Symptom Unknown
by llioncourt30
Summary: Chris is doing all he can to keep his world together. He finally has Jill back. Sheva, Josh and he are safe as well. But he has not seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet and a possible reunion with Wesker could dismantle his world all over again.
1. Chapter 1

Title – Symptom Unknown

Chapter 1: Chink in the armour

Chris absent-mindedly watched Josh as he flipped the various switched and pushed the various dials on the helicopter dashboard. Chris had taken up the seat beside Josh at the front of the vehicle as it began it ascent from the lava pit and the wind whirled past as their helicopter hurdled through the air. Josh's eyes vigilantly watched the darkening landscape before him, as he guided the large machine through the air. A tense silence had fallen over the team ever since they last saw Wesker sink into the molten hot lava. The only sound made by any of them in the small space of the helicopter chassis was that of Josh's voice as he communicated through his headset with the air traffic controller on the other end guiding them home.

Chris was tired. Three days, no sleep trekking around the ass end of Africa will do that to you. But you wouldn't know it by looking at him. The last thing he wanted to do was complain. Compared to what Jill was going through… what she went through for him... Chris didn't want to think about it but he could not stop himself from seeing her falling out of that window, clutching Wesker as she fell to her presumed death. All Chris could do then was scream and reach after her... and watch her fall... Chris' teeth clinched and his eyes squeezed shut as he swallowed hard trying to push the memory from his mind. He could feel emotions swelling up inside him, but he quickly pushed them away. He did not want to think about Jill any more.

His thoughts turned to Sheva, Chris would be forever grateful to her for what she did for Jill. She surprised him when she told him that she wasn't going to leave him. He had to admit to himself he still wasn't completely sure why a complete stranger would risk her life for his own personal vendetta. He ask her why she had a change of heart so quickly, he could not believe that she could want to continue their mission knowing what lay before them. For himself, he knew had a debt to repay and even though there was only a slim chance in hell Jill was still alive he would die trying to see if he could save her. But Sheva, what was her stake in it. Why did she not just leave him? She simply said because we're partners. A fresh wave of guilt flooded Chris' body. It seemed like all of his partners had to go to hell and back for him. Chris suddenly found himself unwilling to continue that particular train of thought either.

He starred out of the window while he tried to force the guilt he felt out of his head. For now he just wanted to take comfort in that fact that they all were safe and heading back home. Tomorrow he could think about what would happen to Jill and what would happen to Sheva. Tomorrow he could go back to hating himself for the mistakes he had made. Tomorrow he could continue to punish himself for being the cause of other people's pain. But he found that right now he couldn't just be happy, all he could do was try to empty his mind of its tormenting thoughts and fill it with the sound of the helicopter blades as they spun over their heads in a wild flurry.

Despite himself Chris couldn't keep from turning his gaze on Jill and Sheva. Both women looked dishevelled and more or less worst for wear. They both sat on the floor of the cabin side by side, Sheva's arm wrapped around Jill shoulder supportively. Sheva absent-mindedly starred out the open side door of the helicopter as Jill slept on her shoulder. As their bodies jousted back and forth by turbulence, Chris couldn't stop memories of both women in imminent danger from crowding his mind. There were moments when he wasn't sure if he would make it out alive much less if Sheva or Jill would. And in those moments he felt an intense panic rise within him. It was in those moments that he felt his inside cracking, close to crumbling. He felt on the verge of completely losing it.

But for now his stoic mask was firmly in place and he found it within himself to turn his head back to look out the windscreen but despite his best effort Chris couldn't suppress a long sigh from manifesting and couldn't stop his hand from coming up to rub his eyes.

Josh looked over at him with a concerned look on his face. He quickly produced a reassuring smile and said "We'll be home soon my friend."

Chris produced a small smile and said "I'm gonna go in the back and check on them" He got up from the passenger seat and headed for the back of the cabin.

Sheva looked up at Chris as he approached her. She greeted him with a small smile and looked down at Jill sleeping in her arms. "She's sleeping; she's been like this ever since we left." She said just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engines. She looked back up at him with furrowed brows and a reassuring smile. "I don't think we should wake her."

Chris looked at Jill; he could not help but examine her. He looked for bruises and cuts; he wondered what else may lay in places he could not see. He looked back at Sheva. " I think you're right." Then he paused and thought for a second and added "Thank you." His voice was barely audible and it surprised him. His emotions threatened to spill over again; he could feel his mask slipping off his face.

Sheva offered him a slight smile and a small nod; she seemed to understand that he was on the brink. "She'll be alright Chris, I know it." Sheva said offering him a genuine smile. Chris wasn't so sure, although he wanted to believe her, he knew that believing was not a luxury he could afford. Nevertheless, he tried to return the favour and he smiled back as best he could.


	2. Chapter 2

_Second chapter of my Resident Evil 5 fic. It is ChrisxSheva so if you don't like it don't read it. Unlike others, I don't hate on Jill at all, Chris and Jill have a long and important relationship and it would do the canon a disservice to ignore it. Jill plays an important part in my story but it is ChrisxSheva as I said before so you have been warned. _

_I don't own Resident Evil, please don't sue._

_AN: Hey, everyone. It took a long time to write this and there are probably still lots of problems with it (things I didn't catch, sorry. I really need a beta reader). For those who are still interested in my story here is the second chapter. I am working on the third, I will try to upload it faster. _

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 2: Know These Things: Shouldn't You

_Chris_

Full swollen moist lips come into focus. Fading light dances across white teeth as they bite down on the bottom lip. The tip of a pink tongue peeks out.

They all disappear just a quickly as they materialized and everything is black.

_Chris_

She whispers his name and he wants to answer, tell her everything will be all right. Just hold on a little longer.

_Chris_

Bright light glints off hazel eyes, flecks of gold placed strategically within them, meant to draw him in, make him surrender. Eyelashes bat and he can't help but swallow. He feels himself try to speak; he draws in a breath. Nothing comes out but a low moan and everything is black once again.

"Chris?" Chris' eyes fly open. He had fallen asleep on a chair in Jill's hospital room at the base. Sheva is standing over him.

* * *

Yesterday almost seemed like a dream. Not because it resembled a nightmare but because so much seemed to had happened and for the life of him Chris could not remember all of it, only snippets and pieces; his memory seemed to only work in fits and starts.

He remembered getting off the helicopter with Jill in his arms.

He remembered refusing to put her in the gurney the nurses provided and when the doctor insisted Chris put her on it he remember starring the doctor down.

He remembered finally letting her leave his arms when they reached the hospital room. The doctors and nurses hurriedly raced around him, testing Jill's reactions, taking her blood and hooking her up to an unending supply of machines. He remembers just standing there next to her bed forcing the medical team to reach around his oversized body because he stood in the way of their ministrations. All the while, he remembers watching it all happen as if he were stuck in a slow moving dream.

He remembers Sheva.

She woke him up then, gently taking his hand and leading him to the far corner of the room, away from the commotion. She stood in front of him, saying kind reassuring words.

She stands before him now, her eyes wide with surprise; a small smile on her lips.

He was fixated on her lips then; he was mesmerized as they moved telling him things he desperately wanted to hear. They seemed to pull him out of the haze he was mired in.

Now, he finds that he has to fight with himself to keep from fixating on them again.

He hopes she doesn't notice that his eyes are lingering a little too long on her smile.

* * *

"Having wild dreams?" Sheva asks, looking a bit sorry that she had woken him up, one hand reaching up to touch her lips, the other hand already on his shoulder.

He can't help but smile at her odd sayings. "Wild dreams?" He asks as he gets up letting her hand fall from his shoulder. He has to check on Jill and even though he doesn't know what he is doing he dutifully looks over the various machines connected to her. They all seem to be beeping and working as they should, but he can't be sure. Exacerbated, he gives up. He looks at Jill's unsettlingly calm face and his jaw tenses; his stomach tightens. He feels his anger starting to boil over. He wants to kill Wesker all over again for what he did to Jill.

"Sorry, it was something my father used to say to me." She says somewhat sheepishly. "How is she?" Sheva asks, drawing him out of his own thoughts.

"I don't know. She hasn't woken up since she fell unconscious yesterday after we came back. The doctors don't know what's going on. They say she is in a coma but they don't know why. They ran some tests but… I don't know." He says looking up a Sheva with worried eyes and then turns his attention back to Jill. He feels so tired, but he ignores it. _Jill's back home, Jill's safe with me, I won't let her down, not again_ he repeats in his head to keep himself going.

Sheva nods not sure what to say to him. He can't blame her, what more could she say? He doesn't think reassuring words will work this time. "I don't want to intrude," she says, "I partly came here to ask you how you are?"

Chris straightens up, "Me, I don't have time to think about myself right now." He says as he falls back onto his chair, allowing himself a small grin. "I slept a little, I ate even less, other than that…" He let his silence finish his sentence for him. She's worried about him, he thinks and immediately bristles at the thought. He is the last person she should be worried about, he's fine. He just needs to make sure Jill is too.

"Is there anything I can do? Some food maybe?" Sheva asks eyes somehow even wider, ingenuousness brimming off her slight smile.

It's moments like these that he remembers how young she is and it surprises him how innocent she can be at times. It's almost like a completely different person run through hell with him and came out the other side. "Naw, I'm alright."

"Well," she starts off, "the other reason I came here was to tell you that the new Section Chief arrived early this morning. We have a meeting with him at 0900. " She say looking at her watch, "so you've got about an hour to get ready."

Chris sighs. "I can't leave her." He says looking back at Jill. He didn't want have to argue with Sheva, not about this. But, he had just gotten Jill back; he wasn't going to leave her now.

"I know, Chris." Sheva says in a small voice. "Would it help if the doctor paged you if something changed with her." She says trying to reassure him, but he can hear the exacerbation in her voice already. "I admire your dedication to your partner but I know for a fact that this meeting with the new Section Chief is important, you could get reprimanded if you don't show up. The B.S.A.A would not have sent a new Section Chief unless there was something really important about to happen. Chris, if you miss this you could jeopardize your position at the B.S.A.A."

Chris doesn't answer her and he hopes she knows him enough not to expect one.

"Don't worry, I'll make something up." Sheva says as she looks at Jill once more and turns toward to door.

Chris cannot help but notice her look, which is really a resigned look of consternation. He hates making her feel that way and it takes all of him to keep from caving and focus on his main task: keeping Jill safe. The last thing he wants to do is hurt Sheva. This is not the first time he has felt himself torn between the two of them but this time just like all the times before he knows which he has to choose. Even so, he cannot just let her leave, not like that.

"Hey wait." Chris says as he stepped around Jill's hospital bed and brings Sheva to a stop halfway out the door. Chris put his best reassuring smile on his lips and concerned squint in his eyes, he hopes it makes her feel better. "Are you okay? I know that I've had a one-track mind lately, but with this kind of thing I know it can be tough, I just…I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine… fine as I can be. One day at a time right?" She says looking up to meet his eyes as she smiled back at him.

"Are you sure?" he asks, but he already knows the answer. He can see right through that smile she beams at him. He wonders how long she has spent perfecting that smile, if it helps her keep the questions at bay.

"Yes. Why, do you think I'm lying to you?" She replies playfully. Her head tilted to one side and her hand place on her cocked hip.

"You wouldn't do that." He says with a large grin. She reminds him of his sister at 16 just then and he can't help but play the part of the big brother. She hasn't truthfully answered his question yet and Chris decides to let it go for now but makes a mental note to talk to her about this in the near future.

"I should go." She says and she leaves the room.

"See yah." He says as he watched her walk down the hall. He had done his fair share of 'taking it one day at a time'. He knew the kind of toll these missions could take on someone. He knew the nightmares and the hallucinations all too well. The times when you would be begging for relief from your insomnia and the other times when you dreaded falling asleep.

Standing there in the doorway of Jill's hospital room he thought of the short time he had know her; they had been through so much in the last three days. He hoped that she considered him as much a comrade as he considered her and if she needed help that she would come to him.

When he can't see her anymore he turns his full attention back to Jill.

* * *

"My name's Thomas Iscarot, I'm the new Section Chief." Josh listens, slightly annoyed as he sits in front of Iscarot's desk. He's still not sure why he had to show up early to meet the 'new Section Chief', more like 'new pain in the ass'. He couldn't stand these bureaucratic types, all red tape and long speeches while he was the one putting his life on the line and the more this guy talks the more Josh doesn't like him.

Thomas Iscarot has just arrived from the American branch of the B.S.A.A. Apparently, he was sent to investigate the Kijuju incident. It's an "incident" now apparently, Josh thinks to himself and not a complete and utter clusterfuck. He guessed that it all depended on which way you chose to look at the situation.

The higher ups must have woke Iscarot up in the middle of the night and told him to get his ass to Africa post-haste because Iscarot looked as if he had packed hurriedly. His well-tailored navy suit was way to heavy for the weather and Iscarot had a slight sunburn on his face and hands. Though, sitting behind his desk you would never know that he was anything but perfectly comfortable. His blonde hair was perfectly quaffed, his face clean-shaven and he had a pair of glasses perched just so on his angular nose.

He had tilted his office chair back and placed his chin on his tented hands contemplatively gazing at Josh between sentences as if Josh was a puzzle he was fully intending on solving.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. You're going to answer them truthfully. Do you understand me?" Iscarot says calmly.

"What is this about? Josh asks exacerbated. He had barely made it out of that communications facility alive and he lost one of his men dragging his and Jill Valentine's ass out of there. He was tired, angry and no mood to deal with Iscarot and his inane questions.

"This is about your failed mission in Kijuju." Iscarot says as he gets up to perch himself on the edge of his desk right in front of Josh. It was an old interrogation technique, tower over the suspect, make him feel like he's being dominated over and he'll bray like a prized goat at the market. Josh could see where this was going and he wasn't afraid to let Iscarot know about it. "I come back from the field after losing most of my men and you interrogate me like some common criminal?" Josh said calmly, slowing folding his arms over his chest, eyes steady and focused intently on Iscarot. He had seen a lot in the last three days, Iscarot would have to do a lot more than that to intimidate Josh.

"This is not an interrogation. I'm simply asking questions. I'm asking these questions because I need answers. You are the only one who can tell me what happened to your men, why you were the only one to survive your assault on the city of Kijuju, why you were the only one to come out relatively unscathed. You see, I need answers and I intend on getting them." Iscarot returned coolly, never letting his steady gaze to leave Josh's.

Josh couldn't believe his ears. "I don't know what you want to get out of me. My men died doing their duty. They died trying to complete a mission people like you thought up in some room an ocean away. They gave their lives doing what you told them to do and this is suddenly somehow my fault? You led us into a bloodbath and you want to blame this on me?" Josh's jaw tensed involuntarily.

Iscarot wasn't there; he didn't know what happened in Kijuju. He didn't know what it was like to watch every single person under your command get struck down by some ungodly thing some corporation thought up on a whim. He couldn't know what it was like to lose friends you've spent years training, working, and fighting with side by side. "You don't know anything."

"Precisely, that's why I'm trying to get at. I want to know, I want to know what really happened." Iscarot said in staccato.

Josh could only reply with a snort. Josh is pretty sure the truth Iscarot wanted had nothing to do with reality.

"Fine, we'll come back to that." Iscarot says stoically as he gets up from the edge of his desk and reached for a pile of papers. Giving the papers a quick read, Iscarot eyes slid from the them back to Josh. "We need to talk about Sheva Alamor."


	3. Stop The World

AN: Hey, I have been playing with this chapter for about 2 months now and I can't take it anymore, I figure if I post it then I can't edit anymore and then I can finally move on. It's driving me crazy lol. There are some parts that I am not happy with but oh well.

For my story Sheva knows a lot less about her parents then in the game, I think it will be good for my story.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciated it. I hope you guys like the new chapter.

* * *

In my rush to upload this I completely forgot to thank Tomed Ceht for betaing this story for me and I feel like a total jerk. She provided great advice and helped me with my poor grammar. Thanks again Tomed Ceht. Sept 18th.

* * *

Stop the World

After watching Sheva leave, Chris walks back to sit beside Jill's hospital bed. By then the sun had come up, but Chris hadn't noticed. The night had cooled the room to the point of frigidity, but now the dawn was warming up the room. The light of the sun gave the room a much less oppressive feel, like the light had cleansed the room. The new day allowed Chris to finally take in the room. Until then, his focus had been solely on Jill and her declining health. With all of that on his mind, he hadn't even noticed the room. Not that there was much to notice.

The walls were covered with beige paint; a standard shade used in most hospitals. Jill was put into a private room so no other patients were in the hospital room with her. Drab coloured drapes hung on the window. Chris was not sure if the currently colour, a dull beige was its original colour or if the powerful rays of the sun had faded it to its current shade. The drapes seemed to be the origin of the depressing air in the room.

Chris tries valiantly to stifle a yawn but fails. He is running on 48 hours no sleep. Chris figures he can get a few winks in before one of the nurses comes back in to check on Jill. Over the course of the night, he had noticed that the nurse's rotations occurred every two hours or so. That meant that he probably had about an hour and a half before one of them came in to check on Jill. That should keep him going for another eight hours and then he can figure out what to do next.

He knows that he probably should take a shower at some point. God only knows how long it has been since he last bathed or brushed his teeth or combed his hair or done anything remotely hygienic. But all those things seem so trivial to him right now. He just wants to stay as close to Jill as possible, make sure she wakes up and make sure she's okay.

He goes to sit in a now all too familiar chair beside Jill's bed. The cool teal leather groans as he sinks into it. Chris hears its protests and silently agrees with it.

He stretches out his legs, tucks his fist under his chin and places his elbow on the armrest in an effort to get comfortable for his quick nap. His eyes fall closed and he lets out a long sigh. Sleep slowly creeps over him, his heart rate slows, and he starts to become dead to the world.

"So, you gonna go to that meeting or what?" Jill says her body still and her eyes closed as if she were still sleeping.

Chris' eyes fly open; sleep all but forgotten. He looks at her not sure if he imagined that she talked, if it was all wishful thinking. She slowly opens one eye and he's sure. "Jill, oh God, how ya feeling?" Chris practically leaps out of his seat and plants himself by Jill's bedside.

"Chris, how do you think I feel? I had a mind-controlling device attached to my chest for over two years. I feel just peachy." If he wasn't so happy to finally have her back, talking, awake he might tell her to shove her sarcasm where the sun don't shine. Instead, Chris just chooses to smile at her and check her over like he has a million times since they came back.

"I'm gonna get the doctor." Chris says and heads for the door. She reaches out to him and grabs his arm before he is just out of reach.

"Wait, not yet, they'll just poke and prod me. I want to talk to you first." She looks up at him with pleading eyes and he almost relents.

"Jill, the doctors need to check you out. You were unconscious for 7 hours, the doctors didn't know what happened to you and now you're suddenly awake. Not to mention the fact that you had been under some sort of mind control. They have to talk to you and do more tests so they can find out what's going on." He says soothingly and begins to turn toward the door to get the doctor, but Jill sits up in bed and tugs more firmly on his arm to stop him.

"Please, Chris. I need to talk to you. I haven't had a conversation with someone I know, someone I care about for God only knows how long and I really need to just… talk. Please." This time he can't say no. With a sigh, he smoothes his hands over her shoulders and gently eases her back down on to the bed. Even though her head is back on her pillow, he leaves his hands on her shoulders and stares down at her. She looks up at him with her blue eyes and slowly lets a small smile creep up onto her lips.

"Didn't we already try this?" Jill asks, her smile turning to a smirk.

"Yeah, I believe you said it was like kissing your overgrown little brother." Chris replies as deadpan as possible. His feelings weren't particularly hurt when she said that because he felt the same way. Chris distinctly remembers both of them laughing at the entire situation. They were much too close to feel awkward about it and just accepted that they were not meant to be more than really good friends.

He smiles down at her, runs his hand over her hair and chastely kisses her forehead, her eyes, and her lips. He pulls away and they both smile. It kind of amazed him how intimate he could be with Jill, at times ironically, it did feel like there were a couple, an old married one. At times they could argue like one, anyway and at other times they could be comfortably cuddled on his couch watching an old action movie, always one of Chris' favourites like _First Blood_. Jill often claimed that Chris was in love of Sylvester Stallone, but Chris would insist that it was just puppy love.

Her eyes roll around like marbles on a school yard playground. "I did say that, didn't I?" She says with an affirming shake of the head.

Chris huffs out a long sigh. "Fine, I won't get the doctor right now, but I am going to get him sooner or later, preferably sooner." He says sitting back in his chair, ignoring the well-known groan it gives him.

"I knew you couldn't resist me. So, how you been? I take it you never stopped looking for me." She says and Chris thinks her tone is maybe too jovial for a person who just woke from a coma for the second time in one week. But Chris can't help but revel in her sprightly mood; the old Jill might still be in there.

"How could I, the way you… fell… I couldn't just…" All these years, Chris had spent countless moments thinking about how he was going to apologize to her, explain to her that he would never let her down again. Now, he couldn't find the words.

"Why Chris, I never knew you cared so much." She says and he gives her a look that tells her to cut the crap and after a long pause she continues, her voice smaller and more contemplative. "I missed you too. I knew you would come for me, way back in the little piece of my mind that I still had control of. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

She beams a smile at him and Chris feels that he doesn't deserve it. He feels that he doesn't deserve her kind words either, but that doesn't stop him from drinking her smile and her words in like water to a man dying of thirst. "Yeah, right," he replies, his voice hesitant.

"Chris, there was nothing you could have done. _I _made the decision to push Wesker out of that window. If I didn't, he would have killed you and there was no way that was going to happen on my watch. I care about you too you know. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you either." Chris considers her words and finds himself feeling both a depressing guilt and overpowering happiness. Chris had worked with Jill for a long time and there had always been an unspoken bond between them confirmed mostly by exchanged glances and meaningful looks. But now they had words, words spoken aloud and filled with conviction. And they were the very words he wanted to tell her as soon as he got her back. It killed him that he couldn't do that for her, finally get the words out there first, do what he had promised himself he would do, what he promised her he would do once she was safe again. But he also felt overwhelming relief that they were finally said and out in the universe.

"Thank you." He replies quietly.

"I should thank you for getting me back and making sure I was safe." They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other's presence, breathing the same air. She reaches over the bedrail and grabs his hand off the armchair. She admires how it dwarfs hers. He was always a tall guy but he must have filled out like a Mack truck since she disappeared because he wasn't this big before. She wonders what he must have gone through because of what happened at the Spencer estate. How he must have tortured and blamed himself for what happened. But she knows it wasn't his fault. It was just a series of bad events, an assemblage of unfortunate things that no one could have stopped. She doesn't blame him and she doesn't want him blaming himself. She interlaces their fingers and their eyes met, bright smiles spread across their faces.

Chris cups her hand in both of his and leans forward in his chair. Concern blossoms on his face. "You feel a little hot, you okay?" He asks softly.

"Yeah, its just a little hot in here. So, are you going to go to that meeting?" She says with a mischievous twist of her lips. She takes her hand back and runs both of them over her blanket, smoothing it down over her body.

Chris chortles. "That tender moment is obviously over." He says as he makes a big show of getting out of his seat. He slams his hands on the armrest and lifts himself up, but he keeps a smile on his face to show her he's not upset. "How much of that conversation did you eavesdrop on?" He walks around to the foot of her bed and leans forward resting his arms on the bedrail.

Her eyes wonder up to the ceiling. "I'd say that I began my covert spy operation about the time Sheva asked about me, which was incredibly nice of her." She replies while she stares at a mystery. She looks back at Chris with a grin. "Hey, if you see her before I do, tell her 'thank you' from me, okay."

"Will do. And no, I'm not going to that meeting." He intones with finality as he leans back and crosses his massive arms over his chest. He doesn't want to have this conversation again. He already had it with Sheva; he didn't want to have it with Jill too. Why couldn't they understand? He has to do this. He has to make up for his mistakes. He had a debt to pay and he would be damned if anyone got in the way of him paying it.

Jill looks like she may have a conniption fit; her eyes are so wide they look like they may just pop out of her head and her teeth are uncomfortably clinched. Chris knows it just for show. "Didn't you hear what Sheva said? You could be fired! Again! You'd have to leave the base. How are you going to take care of me then, huh?" She says exasperatedly as she flings her arms around her to punctuate her points. The old Jill is definitely still there.

"I'll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, you're my first priority." He declares. He keeps standing with his arms crossed hoping she will start to understand that his leaving is not up for discussion.

"But I'm fine now. I'm awake, I feel good, mostly." She says calmly.

"What's wrong, I'm going to get the doctor." He says, already halfway out the door.

"Chris please, just a little while longer." She pleads.

Once again, he gives in to her and walks back to her bedside. He sits facing her on the bed one foot planted on the floor and the other dangling in mid air. He had to make her understand that he wasn't going to let her down again. He looks deep into her eyes and says, "I just want you to get better Jill."

"You know I'm good Chris, give me a couple of days and I'll be tap dancing my way out of here." She winks at him and Chris chuckles mirthfully despite himself. He knows she's just making jokes to make him feel better, and he hates himself for letting her go on, but he just can't bring himself to stop her. "See it's not so bad, is it?" He feels his will breaking. Jill always had a knack for pushing his buttons for better or for worse. His resolve sufficiently dismantled he comes up with a new plan.

"I'm going to get the doctor and if he says that you're okay, I'll go to the meeting and then _I'm coming right back here, all right_?" He says conceding to her demands. Maybe if he is gone for an hour it won't be the worst thing in the world, he thinks to himself.

"Sounds good to me." She replies. He gives her an affirming nod and gets up to head out the door for a fourth time.

"Hey." She stops him again before he leaves and Chris gives her a look that tells her that he is almost ready to forget she is sick and shake her for annoying him so much. "Take it easy," she says raising her hands up in a defensive gesture, "it's just, you reminded me when we were talking just then, uh… if I didn't know any better I would say that that girl had a little crush on you."

Chris feels like a kid who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He feels fire in his cheeks and hopes that they aren't visibly red as he replies. "Who, Sheva? I'm old enough to be her father." A sudden wave of guilty floods over him and he isn't sure why. He hadn't done anything wrong but the thought of Jill overhearing the end of his conversation with Sheva makes him feel like he had just betrayed her trust, it made him feel like he had let her down all over again.

She laughs and he is drawn out of his own thoughts. "Yeah, if you had kids when you were about ten." That math figures pretty good. Sheva's 23, this he knows from her file, and he is 35 so if he had a daughter when he was 10 then she would be around Sheva's age.

"Okay, maybe significantly older brother. Either way, I'm way too old for her to be even somewhat interested. We're just… I mean… she's just attached because of what happened in Kijuju. It was pretty intense, even for old hats like you and me." He says contemplatively. He hopes the change in subject derails Jill's train of thought.

"All right, if you say so," Jill seems to accept that as a reasonable answer and Chris feels an odd sense of relief, "It's just, it kind of sounded like you were," she stopped to find the right word, "flirting."

"Yeah well, I'll just assume that your opinion might be just a little skewed because you've been a zombie for the last 2 years," he said with a sly smile and she gives him the very-funny-asshole look, "I'm gonna get the doc. You stay here and be careful."

"Don't worry Chris, if one of these evil machines starts to attack me you'll be the first person I call." She says and gives him her best B movie actress impression, clutching at the front of her hospital gown with one hand and dramatically laying the back of the other over her forehead.

He shakes his head from side to side and gives her a tired look. He says, "And stop with the snarky."

"Yes, dad."

* * *

To Josh, Iscarot's office has suddenly taken on a dark, cold air. The sullen walls seem to draw the energy out of him. The light from the large window behind Iscarot's desk is diminishing enigmatically.

Guilt weighs his chest down and Josh feels that he might suffocate. The fate of his men weighs heavy on his mind. They died under his command, but he survived. Sheva and he are the only ones left and it was his responsibility. No matter the screwed up orders or that they were lead into a death trap. He was the one responsible for them and he got them killed.

But, he cannot wallow in his own guilt now. Iscarot's witch-hunt is turning ugly and Sheva is the only one he has left. He isn't going to let her get burned at the stake.

"What do you want to know about Sheva," it comes out almost like a snarl, but Josh doesn't care.

Iscarot stands in front of his desk towering over Josh. He twists his body around to pick up a file folder from behind him. He takes his time reading it like he has all day to get his little blood-crazed mob prepared. Finally, his eyes focus on Josh again and he tosses the file folder aside like he wasn't just consumed with reading its contents. "Were you aware that she ignored protocol and continued her mission in Kijuju with Agent Redfield?"

"She had no choice. She was tasked with making sure that Chris… I mean Agent Redfield was safe. She couldn't just leave him," Josh snarls again.

"Were you aware that she has had discipline issues in the past?" Iscarot retorts coolly.

"That was when she first started here. She was a teenager. Her record has improved impeccably since then," Josh replies annoyed. _If this is all Iscarot's got then he doesn't have to worry about Sheva after all_, Josh thinks.

"Were you aware that her parents worked for a subsidiary of the Umbrella Corporation called West African Pharmaceuticals otherwise known as W.A.P?" Josh flinches.

Josh knows little of Sheva's parents; he only knows what little she had decided to share. She never told him that they had worked for Umbrella Corporation. He finds himself at a loss for words.

"Ah, finally something you don't know. Her father was a research scientist working with W.A.P. Most of the records are gone with the destruction of the lab and WAP was quickly dissolved after that, but we have some information about Sheva's connection to Umbrella Corp. Information that Sheva never shared with the B.S.A.A. All information the B.S.A.A had to gather on its own. Tell me something Agent Stone, how well do you know Sheva and the secrets that she keeps?"

Josh is still stunned into speechlessness and Iscarot takes his silence as an invitation to continue.

"Her parents were part of a research team in the bio-diversity division. They were promising young scientists working on food sustainability and its pharmaceutical applications. Basically, they were trying to make food grow in places it couldn't and at the same time trying to make medicinal plants do the same. They claimed it was all in an effort to stop the scourge of famine and disease that was taking over the continent. As deserts grew, farmland became scarcer. Their research was meant to overcome food and medicine shortages by engineering plants that could grow in the desert, grow in the dark, grow anywhere at any time. Their research was supposedly never finished because of the accident, but one can only imagine what could have been."

"You are saying that Sheva's parents were trying to bioengineer plants to grow without the sun, without water? How can that even be possible?" Josh asks, his eyes searching for answers on the floor before him.

"You ask if it is possible, given what you've seen in the past two days. What makes you think that it isn't possible? I have reason to believe that they were successful in their research and that their work is the precursor to what we have seen in Kijuju. Terrorists are now using that research on people, changing their genetic structure and making them into whatever they want. The research has been turned from something that was supposed to help feed and heal the people of this continent into a weapon that threatens the people of this continent's very existence. I need to know what else Sheva might know about it and I need to know it now."

Josh doesn't know what to say, but he knows that he is not going to let Iscarot pin this whole thing on Sheva. "She doesn't know anything about her parents. She just knows that her parents died in an accident while they were working in a lab. She doesn't know what the name of it was or that it was owned by Umbrella. She doesn't know what her parents did or what type of accident took their lives. She just knows that they were killed and that she was left an orphan in a continent full of orphans," Josh is practically screaming now, his voice straining to get the words out. He stops to compose himself and begins again much quieter, "I don't know what you want from her, but she can't help you. You should just leave her alone." Josh hoped that Iscarot had an ounce of decency in him; even an iota of compassion would be enough to get him off Sheva's back. She didn't need this guy digging up her past, making her remember all of those painful memories.

Iscarot stared coldly at Josh, his true thoughts and feelings hidden behind his stoic mask. "I will get to the bottom of this. Sheva will answer my questions even if you won't and if I find out that she lied about anything, she will pay the price. You're dismissed."

Josh leaves the room as quickly as possible. He has to find Sheva and make sure he gets to her before Iscarot does.

* * *

After the doctor confirmed that Jill was stable, Chris finally allows himself to leave her side. He makes his way to the other side of the B.S.A.A. compound where the agent's quarters' building is. After checking in with the clerk, he makes his way to the quarters he is assigned, room 304 on the third floor. He puts his key in the lock and hears the bolts slip open. He turns the knob and walks into his new home. The room looks comfortable enough. There is a small kitchenette to the right and a bathroom beside it. It has a rather sad looking couch sitting against the wall to the left with a rabbit-eared television in front of it. There is a queen sized bed in front of him sitting just below a large window. An old ceiling fan provided the only artificial light in the room and apparently the only source of air conditioning. As Chris takes in the room he thinks to himself, _it should be comfortable enough, at least for a little while._

He walks over to the couch and flops down on it. He sinks in deeply and Chris thinks that this couch had probably seen better days. He rubs his closed eyes with his hand and then runs it over his face to rub at the stubble on his jaw. He opens his eyes and a small smile creeps over his lips. Despite his tired state, he is in a surprisingly good mood and why shouldn't he be? _Jill's back; she's awake and she sounds like she'll be okay. Sheva and I made it out of that hellhole alive, relatively unscathed. Wesker is dead_, he thinks. "Wesker is dead." He had to say it out loud. "Wesker's dead." He said it again. _In all those times searching for Wesker and all those times fighting against him, I never actually thought it would ever happen. And now… _"He's dead."

Somehow he finds a way to sink deeper into the couch. He lays his head back to rest on the back of the couch and closes his eyes again. He's not sure what is going to happen next. For many years he has only wanted to stop Wesker and now that he's done that he's not sure what should be next. He has nothing to go back to, there's only Claire.

He's not sure when he'll be leaving. Of course, he has to stay for Jill; she'll need him more and more over course of her recovery, but he doesn't mind staying a little bit longer. Africa's not so bad after all. He looks around the room and thinks _home sweet home_. He ventures into the bathroom to take that long overdue shower.

Hot water rushes out of the showerhead and blasts Chris' skin. The water leaves his skin red and sore, but he doesn't turn the temperature down to a more tolerable level. He relishes the feel of it on his bruises and cuts; savours the sensation as it washes the horror of the last two days off him. Chris stands still under the spray of the shower leaning against the wall with his arms holding him up above his bowed head. He doesn't know how long he has been in the shower and at this point he really doesn't care. The last few moments have been the only ones he has been able to truly relax. He lets his mind wonder and Sheva pops into his thoughts.

She's done so much for him. He thinks of how young she is and yet how sure of herself she is. She reminds him of himself when he was her age. How dedicated he was to the job, how it slowly began to consume more and more of his life until it was all he did and all he knew. Chris raises his head to let the water spray him in his face. He hopes that she doesn't let work do the same to her. She's so young, she has her entire life ahead of her and if she leaves this path and finds something that will make her happy maybe she could escape the path she had set for herself.

Jill thinks Sheva has a crush on him. He tried to dismiss it but, it was a nice thought to entertain. Sheva is beautiful, that is a fact. From the moment he first saw her he recognized it, anyone would have. Within seconds of meeting her she showed him that she was also tough and confident. She impressed him then. She made him want to know her better. He had been so focused on the job all of his life, he never imagined he could meet someone like her or that he could feel such an instant and deep attraction, but it was there as clear as day and he had only known her for all of 2 minutes.

In quite moments he allowed himself to imagine a normal life; one with a house in the suburbs with a two-car garage; one with the sound of kids playing in the backyard as he watches from the patio and cooks burgers on the barbeque. Just as Sheva had insinuated herself into his thoughts, she had insinuated herself his dreams of a normal life. And when he imagined climbing into bed in his suburban home, Sheva was there waiting for him. But those fantasies weren't real and he had to face facts, he is an old man compared her, her life is just beginning and his path had been set a long time ago.

Still, Chris couldn't get his mind off her even though he had set his thoughts of her aside during the mission. Now he finds it hard to keep his mind away from her. He had to stop himself from staring at various parts of her body before she caught on and he wasn't so sure that he was completely successful at it. Her lips and her mouth for instance, drew him in like moths to a flame. He finds his mind drifting from time to time to thoughts of what she tastes like, what it feels like to have her full lips pressed against his own, her hot tongue sliding into his mouth.

Chris thinks back to the night before, when Jill lay on that hospital bed and Sheva stood in front of him, telling him it would be okay. He watched her then, felt her calloused hands holding his face steady as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Her lips moved and he was transfixed. He was conflicted because he never wanted her to stop telling him those things, but at the same time, he wanted to shut her up with his own lips. With her that close he couldn't help himself. It surprised him at times, how his desire for Sheva could so easily override his need to help Jill. But he kept his cool then and restrained himself from acting on his desire and instead focused on his need.

Chris suddenly feels hotter despite the cool setting of the spray from the showerhead. Chris knows one thing for sure; he needs to turn off the hot water and take a cold shower.

With ten minutes left, Chris hurriedly patches himself up, dresses and rushes to the meeting.

* * *

"Come on doc, give it to me straight." Jill cajoles, as the doctor checks her vital signs on one of the many beeping machines attached to her.

"Miss Valentine, I can't tell you what is happening to you. Your dopamine levels are high, your blood pressure is low and you just inexplicably came out of a coma. All I can tell you is that we are running tests and hopefully they will tell us what is going on." Doctor Ncheku said while he checked her chart for the third time since he entered her room.

Jill couldn't blame the guy for not knowing what was going on. Lord only knows what happened to her while she was under Wesker's control. She can only remember parts of her two-year ordeal, and those were only the moments when her consciousness was able to push through to the surface, when she could finally take control of her body and fight back. Those moments never lasted very long. Just as quickly as those moments came, they would disappear again and she would get sucked back down into the watery depths of her subconscious, her body no longer her own.

She figures she can let him off the hook. "Don't sweat it doc. Let me know when you figure it out. But, do you think you could up my pain meds, it's kind of hard to deal with the pain in my head."

"No problem. I'll have the nurse change your dosage." With that the doctor left.

This pain was all too familiar to Jill. It was the same pain she felt after she was freed from Wesker's control, the same pain she felt when she was on the helicopter being cradled by Sheva, it was the same pain she felt intensify just before she lost consciousness, and it was the same pain she hid from Chris after she awoke from her coma. Jill knows that there is something wrong with her, something that's probably very serious, and although it scares her to death she can't let Chris know.

She knows that he probably spent the last two years obsessing over her, searching for her everywhere and now that she is back she doesn't want to make him suffer over her anymore. She can take the pain and keep the burden to herself. She can be strong enough for the both of them.

* * *

By the time Chris arrives at the meeting it has already started. The darkened boardroom is full to the brim with people. Interns line the walls scribbling furiously, brows in knots afraid to miss one word. One man speaks at the front with a projector pointing at the screen with a laser pointer. Senior agents were reserved seats at the table, their names placed on placards in front of every seat. Chris spots his name near one end of the table right next to Josh and an empty seat with Sheva's name in front of it.

"Hey Josh." Chris says in a whisper as he sits down in his seat. "Where's Sheva?"

Josh gives Chris a sideways glance at the mention of Sheva's name, but does not respond to his question.

"What the hell man? She practically begged me to come to this meeting and she just bails. Where is she?" Chris persists, his voice slightly higher. Sheva wouldn't miss this meeting on purpose; he wants to know what the hell is going on.

"Something happened. I think she left the base." Josh leans into Chris and replies in a low whisper not turning to look at Chris.

"What? Wait a second. What happened?" Chris by now has turn completely toward Josh. His voice is loud enough to attract the attention from the people around him.

"I told her some information about her parents. She didn't like what I had to tell her." Josh finally looks at Chris and raises his hand in a calming motion.

"What did you tell her?" Chris whispers half question, half accusation. He just got one partner back and now he has lost another one. He wasn't sure if he could go through it all over again.

Josh already feels like crap for being the one to have to tell her the news and he feels completely responsible for her leaving the base. All he wanted to do was protect her and prepare her for Iscarot's stunning revelations about her parents. All he ended up doing was put her into the same trouble her was trying to keep her from. He didn't need Chris making him feel any worse about it than he already felt. He didn't like the accusatory tone Chris was throwing at him and his volume of his voice reflected it. "I don't need you…" Josh replies fiercely. The lights in the room suddenly come on causing Josh to stop mid sentence.

"Agent Redfield, Agent Stone. Am I interrupting your conversation?" Iscarot asks as cool as ever.

"No sir, sorry." Both reply at the same time.

"Agent Redfield, this next part will concern you so maybe you should pay attention."

_Condescending prick_, he thinks, but opts to say, _"_Yes sir," instead. Normally, Chris would have told this guy what-was-what whether he was his superior officer or not, but he had two other people to consider and getting kicked out of the B.S.A.A. wasn't going to help either of them.

"We will be beginning a new mission in Kijuju; it will have two parts. The first will part will be clean up. We have a lot of infected people out there still and we have facilities that need to be wrapped up. The second part of the mission is the investigation. We need to find the people who are responsible for this. We all know that Albert Wesker was the leader of this particular terrorist assault, but he didn't do it alone. We need to find these people. Once Mr. Redfield finds time to fill out his report, we can begin dividing up this mission. Mr. Redfield, you are the senior-agent here with the most experience in Kijuju, so you will be leading both parts of this mission. You will report directly to me. Your team will consist of Mr. Stone and Ms. Alomar since they are already familiar with the case. You have the resources of the entire West African branch of the B.S.A.A at your disposal. I want answers and I want to see this thing cleaned up. You got that?"

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed. Agent Redfield, I will expect you at my office by the end of the day."

Chris nods and grits his teeth. _I don't have time for this shit_, he thinks to himself. He spots Josh rushing out of the room and follows him.

"Josh!" Chris yells in the crowded hallway. Chris sees Josh turn his head at the sound of his name, but then quickly turn back heading toward the garage. "Shit." Chris murmurs under his breath and manoeuvres past the crowd to catch up to Josh.

"Josh!" Chris entreats when he finally reaches the entrance of the garage. "What's going on? What did you tell Sheva? And why are you running out of here so fast?"

"Look Chris, I don't have time to talk right now. I have to go after Sheva."

"Wait a second, just tell me what's going on."

"I told Sheva some news about her parents, news I got from the new section chief. He said that her parents worked on a project that is connected to what happened in Kijuju. They worked for Umbrella making these plants that can grow anywhere and their research was used to create those infections we saw. I told her and she didn't take it very well and now she's gone off and it's all my fault." It all came out in one long breath.

"Hold on. She thinks her parents are responsible for Kijuju? I thought that they died when she was a child."

"They did, but their research lived on. I have to go Chris, I have to fuel up this vehicle and get some supplies then I have to go after her. I think she may have gone to her uncle's house. I have to catch up to her."

He feels conflicted. Sheva could be in real trouble, but Jill isn't well yet. He had promised to come right back to her room after the meeting. Once again, he has to choose between his partners and once again, Jill wins out. "Damn it, I wish I could go. Call me as soon as you find her, okay?"

"All right, I'll see you later." Josh says as he returns to fuelling up the vehicle.

* * *

Chris makes his way back to Jill's room all the while thinking of Sheva. He hopes that she's not in any danger, although it sounded like she just ran off. She wouldn't do anything to herself, he knows enough about her to say that for sure. She could certainly take care of herself, but he knew that he wouldn't feel comfortable about her safety if he weren't by her side, backing her up.

As he approaches Jill room, he tries to push Sheva to the back of his mind; he has to get back to reality, he has to get back to Jill. When he arrives, Jill is sitting up in her bed reading a magazine.

"Hey." He says leaning on Jill's hospital room's doorjamb.

"Hey yourself. How was the meeting?" The smile she greets him with falls off her face and she drops the magazine. "What's wrong?" Jill, perceptive as always, knew that he was preoccupied with something. He was never really good at hiding things from Jill.

"It's Sheva. She's disappeared. Left the base and didn't tell anyone." He says as he walks over to sit in the teal chair.

"Well, what's going on? She doesn't seem the type to just up and leave without telling anyone."

"She's not," Chris says with authority. "Josh said something about her parents working for Umbrella. I think that got her upset."

"That's bad news. Well, where'd she go?" She says with a shrug.

"I don't know. Josh said something about plants that could grow anywhere." Chris thinks for a minute, he's sure he has seen something like that before. "Wait a minute, Sheva and I stumbled upon some plants that were growing underground. Maybe that's where she went."

"You think she may have gone there? Why would she go there?"

"I don't know, Josh said she's going to her uncle's house." He says as he gets up and begins to slowly pace around Jill's hospital bed. "That's where he went to look for her. But, we found some Umbrella and TriCell equipment in that cave. There might be some files, something about her parents. That could be a reason for her to go there. I can't say for sure though."

"Well, you have to go with him and you have to show him where the underground cave is." Jill says matter-of-factly.

Chris stops in his tracks at the foot of her hospital bed. "What? No, I have to stay with you."

"Chris, she needs our help. She risked her life to safe you and me. She didn't have to do any of that. And now, when she needs us most you're just going to let her down. Come on Chris, you know better than that," Jill asks.

"And what about you? If I go after her, who is going to take care of you?" Chris wants to be loyal, but right now being loyal means doing two completely different things and the fact remains that right now Jill is safe and Sheva is out there doing God only knows what. And Jill didn't know what she was tempting him with, a chance to chase his desire and forget what he needs to do.

"Oh I don't know, the entire medical staff here, who, by the way, know way more about medical shit than you do." She said cracking a mirthful smile.

"Jill, this isn't funny. I can't just leave you here."

"Yes, Chris I know. I know how you feel, but I am okay. Really, I am. Sheva needs you. You have to go." She says with pleading eyes and Chris feels a little bit guilty for letting her convince him to go.

He stood there in Jill's room silently. He had been here before, his partners needed him and he had to choose. He hated this, but he had to make a decision. _Jill's okay, maybe if he's quick_… "I'm going to come back as soon as possible."

"Yes, Chris, I know." Jill answers with feinted irritation.

"And you have to do exactly what the doctor says, no messing around." Chris continues with concern obvious in his voice.

"Yes, Chris, I know." Jill carries on the rouse.

"And if anything happens you have the doctor call me, I'll leave my number with the nurse," Chris says seriously, ignoring Jill's gag. "And… Just be safe and get better okay," he says softly.

"Yes, Chris… I know." Jill returns just as softly. A smile spread across her lips.

Chris rushes back to the garage. He hopes he is not too late to catch Josh before he leaves. "Josh! Josh!"

He spots Josh getting into a Hummer. Josh stops and approaches Chris. "Hey Chris, what's going on? I have to go."

"Yeah, uh. You mind if I tag along?" Chris asks sheepishly.

"No, not at all. Hop in."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - Thanks to those who reviewed and thanks to Tomed Ceht for your help.

* * *

Chapter 4 – Changed

"I don't know why I'm trusting you on this, Chris. This is such a long shot." Josh says sceptically. Josh and Chris have been traveling for an hour and a half heading toward the underground cave Chris and Sheva found during their mission.

Her uncle lives in the other direction, and it took Chris about twenty minutes to convince Josh to head in the direction of the cave. But Chris was convinced she was there, she just had to be.

The Hummer was getting close. Two days ago, when they found the cave, Chris and Sheva found things that left many questions in their minds. But their mission came first and they quickly moved on. He never anticipated that the cave would hold painful secrets about Sheva's past.

The landscape between the base and the underground cave is mostly dry savannah. Chris sits silently in the passenger seat watching the trees and brush wiz past him. Every so often he catches glimpses of a cluster of huts with children running around playing and mothers working hard cleaning clothing and preparing food. Chris absently wonders what it is like to live so simply; it is something that he has never known.

"How is Jill?" Josh asks absentmindedly.

"I think that she's getting better", Chris replies, looking over a Josh. He has been thinking about her for the entire trip, silently chastising himself for leaving her side so quickly. All he can do now is hope that nothing happens while he's gone and he prays that she stays safe in his absence and gets better. "The doctors are taking good care of her," Chris adds.

"That's good," Josh says noncommittally never taking his eyes off the road. Josh must be distracted by Sheva's absence. Hopefully, Chris's hunch pays off and she is at the underground cave.

They spend the rest of the trip in silence trying not to think of the worst and hoping that everything will turn out fine.

Twenty minutes later Josh pulls up near the abandoned Tricell facility. Josh is unexpectedly quiet and takes a few moments to shut off the engine.

Not being able to take the silence anymore, Chris says "look Josh, I know how you feel, but you got to trust me on this, she's in there. If you saw what we saw, you would completely agree with me."

Josh's jaw works, clinching and release rapidly. "I just need to find her Chris." Josh says staring absently out of the windshield.

"We will." Chris replies firmly. Josh finally looks over at him and nods his head tightly, a conciliatory smile on his face.

"This place is pretty big, we should split up. I can head west to the cave since I already know where that is." Chris states thinking that if they split up, they can cover more ground and hopefully find Sheva quicker.

"Alright, where should I go?" Josh asks.

"There was a computer access terminal in the storage area at the end of the Tricell facility. If Sheva isn't at the caves, she may be there." Chris offers and continues, "we should try to work our way back toward each other so we can make sure we check everywhere she could be. We'll meet back at the car in 1 hour."

"Okay, see you in an hour." Josh says and turns to start his search, but what he leaves out is 'I hope you or I have Sheva with us by then'.

"See you in an hour." Chris replies watching Josh leave, but what he leaves out is 'I hope so too'.

* * *

Chris finally made his way to the abandoned Umbrella/Tricell facility. "Sheva?" he cries, hoping they she can hear him, hoping that she is even there. He spots her at the top of the rock steps standing in front of the fiery red flowers growing at the centre of the cave.

The eerie light of the cave opens up in front of him much like it did when he first arrived there a couple of days earlier. The cave is dome shape with an oculus letting light in at the top. On the other side of the cave lies the abandoned Umbrella and Tricell equipment including tents and boxes filled with supplies. All of it left much as he last saw it, deserted as if people had to leave in a hurry. In the middle of the cave is a platform made of stone surrounded by sets of stone steps on all four sides. Those red flowers burst through every conceivable spot on the platform and the top of the platform is covered with them. Chris might say that the flowers were lilies except he knows that the flowers were not natural, they were the furthest thing from it having been bio-engineered in a lab. The top of the platform is where he finds Sheva's crouched form.

"Sheva!"

She ignores his calls, or she cannot hear him. He has not sure which is true. Either way she remains in a catatonic state; starring at those ungodly flowers.

"Sheva!" he approaches slowly and calls out her name again. The broken stone steps are unsteady under his feet and he treads carefully as he continues toward her; until he is by her side.

"Sheva? What's going on, you okay?" he asks gently with concern in his eyes, his lips tight with anticipation.

"Do you know what this place is?" she asks quietly, without turning to look up at him. He strains to hear her and his heart breaks a little at the sound of her voice. It sounds defeated and broken.

"This is the place we found the remains of what looked like an Umbrella and Tricell facility." He replies, stating only facts. For some reason he feels that he can ground her with facts, like by stating things he knows are true and empirical he can bring her back from the other worldly state she is in.

She turns to look at him and he finally sees the tears in her eyes. Her face is streaked with fallen ones, but her face is calm and Chris' heart aches at the incongruity of it all, torrent and serenity all at the same time.

She looks at him with sad eyes and says, "yes, but it's also the last connection I have to my parents," she says a little louder than last time, looking back at the dark red flowers.

He stands there not sure what to say next. He wants to comfort her and contemplates embracing her for a second but rethinks it. She looks so frail at the moment and he's afraid that if he touches her she will break away into small pieces. His presence seems to calm her though, so he opts to just stand close to her hoping that his presence acts like an anchor to the present.

"Why are you here?" she asks as she stands up, seeming to come out of her self induced stupor.

"Josh said you ran off, just took off without a word. I was worried about you. You missed the meeting. The one with section chief. The one you begged me to go to." He says it as slowly as he can. He is not sure if she even understood him. The entire time he talks she stares at his mouth. When he finishes, she finally looks him in the eye.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that meeting," she says nonchalantly; her tears slowing for now.

"Oh, you forgot? Sheva, what's going on? You're not yourself," he says grabbing her arm.

She looks down to where his grip has captured her and then looks up at him as if she is confused. "Yeah, I had to get here and see what I could find. The last time we were here we walked by so fast. All I could think about was that, 'they were here, my parents were here', I had to get back." She starts to turn away from him and he grabs her other arm, pulling her toward him; making her face him and his questions.

"Sheva," he says imploringly, "I have to get you home, you don't look well, you need to rest."

"No," she yells and tries unsuccessfully to pull herself free; Chris tightens his grip, "I'm not going anywhere. I have to stay here. I have to find out what happened." She let's out a dry laugh, her eyes searching him and she says, "Of all people, I would think you would understand."

His hands immediately relax around her upper arms. He does understand, he understands more than she knows. What a pursuit like this can do to you. What you have to give up. The endless nights pouring over what happened, trying to find that one clue that can solve the whole thing. That is exactly the opposite of what he wants for her and he'll be damned if he sits back and watches it happen.

"Sheva, I get it, trust me I do, but this isn't the way. I promise you, I won't leave here until we solve this, but right now you have to come with me." She breaks down and starts crying again. He pulls her to him, smothering her loud sobs with his broad chest. His arms encase her body, surrounding her completely; her arms are trapped between their bodies. He feels the heat of her breath and the dampness of her tears through his shirt.

Her crying continues and her body shakes with her weeping and Chris isn't sure he can take this any longer. His mind works in over drive trying to figure out how to calm her down. He begins whispering to her, telling her, "It will be okay, just hold on a little longer. I'll make it better; I'll figure something out just please stop crying."

Eventually, between words he begins to place soft, chaste kisses on top of her head. His arms release their grip around her and his hands cup her face, tilting it up towards his. His kisses continue to her forehead. "Please stop crying Sheva. I promise, I'll figure it out." He places soft kisses on each of her eyes and tastes her salty tears on his lips. Sheva begins to still and her crying begins to stop.

"Please stop crying. Sheva, I'll help you, I'll do everything I can, I promise. Please." He kisses the tip of her nose. He pleads with her, but he is no longer sure what he is asking. Right now he is holding Sheva in his arms and he wants to convince himself that it purely for her benefit, but he is not completely sure. He knows he wants her, he has since the moment he met her and now she is pliant and willing and he cannot ignore it; he won't.

"Sheva," he says in barely a whisper. His hands unconsciously bring her lips to his. Her mouth hangs open slightly; her eyes are half closed, hands clutching at his shirt. His heart pounds loudly in his ear and it drowns out that voice of reason that tells him what his is about to do is wrong on so many levels. He swallows thickly, licks his lips and slowly brings Sheva's lips to his. Their kiss is light and ethereal. As soon as their lips meet he hears a low moan emanate from her throat and immediately Chris deepens their kiss, releasing her face with one hand and using it to pull her body to his by her waist. He kisses her harder and runs his tongue along her lower lip.

She moans again and Chris suddenly pulls away. He yells at himself in his head, he cannot believe what he's just done. She stares at him and he cannot read what is in her eyes. He feels predatory; he has taken advantage of a crying, distressed, vulnerable 23-year-old girl who just learned life-changing news about her parents. His partner no less. 'Good one Chris, way to be a complete and utter ass-hole.' He opens his mouth to apologize, tell her that if she never wants to speak to him again that he would understand. But, he never gets the chance.

"Sheva?" Josh's voice booms from the entrance and both Chris and Sheva are distracted by it.

'Josh?" Sheva replies turning her head toward the sound of Josh's voice. She turns back to look at Chris, that mysterious emotion locked in her eyes and then she pulls away from him. Chris feels the heat of her body leave him and his body aches to have her smell and her presence back again.

"Sheva! Thank God." Josh runs toward her and pulls her into a tight hug. "Sheva, I've been so worried about you, I'm so glad you're okay." He holds her so he can look at her, "Okay, we're going home."

"No, I can't," Sheva says desperately, "this is the only place I can finally find answers about my parents."

"We'll come back," Chris intercedes from his spot on top of the rock steps, "we've all been assigned to clean this thing up, we would have to come back here anyway. Sheva, you should come with us." Chris begins to walk toward them slowly and takes note of the fact that Sheva has not looked him in the eye.

Josh looks from Chris to Sheva; a hopeful look in his eye, "will you come with us?"

Sheva nods her head and lets Josh wrap his arms around her and lead her out of the cave.

They regroup at the Hummer, packing up their equipment and getting ready for the long trip back to the base. Sheva is already settled in the back passenger side seat; wrapped in a blanket with her head resting on the car door window. Chris has not made eye contact with her since he kissed her and it was not for lack of trying. She just will not look at him, like he does not exist. Chris does not know how things got so fucked up and right now, he has not sure how he can fix it.

"Ready to go?" Josh asks, knocking Chris free of his thoughts.

"Yeah." Chris replies grabbing the last of their things and getting into the front passenger seat. Chris and Sheva sit in silence. He is not sure if she is sleeping. She must be exhausted from traveling out here and searching through the abandoned facility for hours. His eyes cautiously wander to the side view mirror and find her starring at him. His eyes search hers for understanding and forgiveness, but just then Josh enters the car and Chris turns toward him and gives him a slight smile. When he turns back toward the side view mirror, Sheva's head is turned away. He can no longer see her eyes nor can he try to convince her that he's sorry with his.

"Let's go home." Josh says with a huge smile on his face, obvious elation brimming in his eyes.

"Yeah, let's go." Chris replies, trying to sound chipper, but feeling anything but.


	5. Chapter 5

AN - This is not betaed so please excuse the errors. I hope you like the update, this one is a little quicker than the last. I also added a new story description if you are interested. The story sort of meander away for the last description and this one is a little more literal that the last.

Please read and review. I welcome constructive criticism if you've got it. I would like to improve the story anyway I can. Thanks to those who have reviewed already.

* * *

Chapter 5 - Each Hour Each Second Each Minute

A chill runs up Jill's spine and she is forced into wakefulness. She is lying on her side with her arm tucked under her head. She feels her head ache and she wonders how exactly she fell asleep. Her mouth is dry and she swallows thickly. She tries to open her eyes slowly, but the fluorescent lights burn too brightly. She tries again and her eyes adjust slowly. She is alone.

He misses him. She only just got him back yesterday. She has only been back since yesterday. And now he is gone again. She was hoping that he would not be gone long and she is disappointed to not be able to wake up to his smiling face. She is almost sorry she told him to go after Sheva.

Since Chris left, her headaches have only getting worse and the painkillers the doctor gave her barely numb the pain anymore. She is afraid to ask for a stronger dose because it might alarm the doctors not to mention Chris and that is the last thing she wants to do. She does not want to be a burden any longer. She does not want to be the chain wrapped tightly around Chris' neck incrementally strangling him. She does not want to squeeze the life out of him and slowly bring him down with her. She is determined to never let that happen again.

The only visitor Jill received today was the new Section Chief and he immediately put her off. He had a saccharine smile that did not engender any comfort in her at all despite his sympathetic words. Jill felt no sympathy, kindness or warmth from him when he spoke. She just saw a man doing what he felt he should do not what he wanted to do.

He told her that he knew that she bad been through a lot in the last few years but he needed her to give a full account of ordeal for the record; it would help greatly with the investigation. He had been told that she did not remember much of the past 2 years, but if she could write down what she could remember then it would be a great help and it could help Chris with his current mission. He patted her on the shoulder and left without another word.

She was not sure she wants to remember anything about her time with Wesker. If she tries she is pretty sure that all she would remember is a timeless, weightless and bottomless blackness. The only things she could write about were her brief periods of consciousness. But, if it could help Chris she would try despite her reservations. For Chris she would at least try. Jill rings the bell that calls the nurse at the nurse station and asks for a pad of paper and a pencil and proceeds to write down what she could remember of her time with Wesker.

She is still writing when Chris strides into Jill's hospital room. His shoulders are slumped, his head is hung low and his eyes are downcast. He is obviously deep in thought. She looks at him not sure what to make of his mood. He is usually a little down and with what happened in the last couple of years, she could not blame him. But, this time seems different somehow. He does not seem to have noticed her analyzing gaze and sits down in his teal chair without saying a word. When he finally looks up at her he plasters a smile on his face but it does not meet his eyes. He really should know by now that she can read him like a well worn book.

"Hey, how you fellin'?" He says mirth and happiness in his voice.

Jill sighs and drops the pad of paper and pencil in her hand, "what happened?" she asks.

Chris' gives her a rather charming smile, but it hides nothing, "what are you talking about, I was just asking how you were." He says while shifting in his seat.

"Spill it, I don't have all day." She replies with her arms folded over her chest.

"It's nothing." He says as if that were enough to shut her up.

"Well, is Sheva okay, did you at least find her?" She asks slowly as if he were a child.

"Yeah, yeah she's fine. Josh took her home to her apartment, she should be getting rest right now." he says.

"That's good. So what's wrong? You should be happy. And don't tell me it's nothing because I already know that it is something so you might as well just tell me now." She says conclusively, there is no way she is going to let him off the hook.

"It's nothing really," he pauses to laugh at the extremely annoyed look she is giving him, "it's just I think that I might have screwed up is all." He says sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Jill asks.

Chris sigh deeply, "I don't know," is all he says and Jill hopes he is not pausing for dramatic effect. She waits for him to continue giving him room to move at his own pace.

"I kissed Sheva; I mean I really kissed her. Like lips and tongue and groping and I," he pauses again, "I didn't want it to stop, but I did, I stopped it and I knew that I had just crossed a line that, that, I don't know, I shouldn't want to cross. It's just, she's so young and impressionable and we're partners and Jill you should seen her, she was like this little hurt bird and I just wanted to help her I swear. But, I couldn't stop myself, I felt like I needed it, like I needed her." All that came out in what seemed like one breath and Jill was not sure she understood what he was saying to her or if he understood himself.

He continues, "I feel like I betrayed her trust, like I took advantage of her. I'm not sure how I can fix it."

Jill would like to say she is surprised but she knew something was up between the two of them. She will make a point to rub that fact in his face when he is feeling a bit better. "Well, you guys were partners, I'm sure you guys can work it out. We did." Jill offers.

"Yeah." Chris says despondently.

"What does she think about it?" Jill asks. She has heard what he thinks, but that is not necessarily what Sheva thinks, "maybe she doesn't think of it that way, maybe she feels the same way you do." She smiles at him, "anyway, it sounds like it was a little more than you taking advantage or even losing control it sounds like you might have strong feelings for her. At least, that's what I got from that jumbled mess you just blurted out." She looks at him and tries to understand what is going on in his head. "You know Chris, this whole episode is over now. You can relax. You can live your life again. You can have the kids and the white picket fence. The whole works."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Chris concedes seemingly not in the mood to process the thoughts he had just verbalized for the first time. He leans back in his chair and runs his palm over his face. After a couple of minutes Chris shifts his full attention back to Jill. "You staring at me?" He says smiling, but this time his smile and his happiness are in his eyes.

Jill had in fact not taken her eyes off him sense he admitted what was wrong. "Maybe. Maybe you're just too good looking and I can't look away." Jill replies and they both laugh.

"How are you feelin'?" He asks reaching for her hand.

Jill stiffens at the question. She does not want to tell him her head is pounding and she is doped up beyond human comprehension. "I'm okay," she says simply.

He looks her in the eyes as if to see if she is telling the truth. He furrows his brows and Jill becomes nervous under his scrutiny, shifting under his gaze. He finally smiles and says, "That's good, I'm glad to hear that." Chris says as he gets up and Jill cannot hide the disappointment on her face. "I'm sorry, I have got to go see the Section Chief. I have to see him before the end of the day, but I couldn't go before I saw you." He squeezes her hand and gives her a soft smile. "I'll see you later." With that he left.

Jill watches him leave and sighs. She looks down at the pad and pencil picks them up and starts writing again.

* * *

Chris knocks on an office door that has "S.C Thomas Iscarot" inscribed in gold lettering on it. Chris can't believe that this guy could get his name on his door in less than two days. 'It's good that he has his priorities straight,' Chris thinks to himself as the door opens for him.

"Agent Redfield," Iscarot says dispassionately moving aside and gesturing for Chris to come into the office, "I know I said that you should be in my office by the end of the day, but this late is not exactly what I meant." Iscarot says as Chris and he walk over to his desk. Iscarot extends his hand for Chris to shake and offers him a seat.

Chris sits down and says, "sorry, something came up," Chris turns away from Iscarot to hide his rolling eyes.

"You are referring to Agent Alamor leaving the base without permission," Iscarot says as his eyes rest coolly on Chris.

Chris eyes shot back at Iscarot. He cannot believe that Iscarot knows about that.

"Don't be surprised Agent Redfield, I know about everything that happens on this base. And, I am not looking to punish anyone, I just wanted to let you know that I know." Iscarot says.

Chris bristles at Iscarot's words, but he is glad that despite the fact that Sheva, Josh and he were in essence AWOL it will not come back to haunt them.

"Let's get back to business, I want to review the mission with you in detail." Iscarot pulls a folder from a neat pile on his desk and opens it up. He pushes it slowly over to Chris. He waits for Chris to pick it. After he does, Iscarot begins to speak again. "You will be staying on here in West Africa for a little while longer. You are the leader of the mission to clean up Kijuju. You will be assigned a 4-person team including Agent Alomar, Agent Stone and 2 new agents Agent Rodriguez and Agent Adou. You will take this team and you will clean up the sites, including the town of Kijuju and its surrounding areas, the Wetlands, the Caves, the abandoned Tricell/Umbrella facility, the ship and the volcano. I also want you to collect any evidence you can find. I want each area cleaned up and any evidence gathered. That means I don't want even a shred of evident left behind or a shred of Oroboros unaccounted for no matter how microscopic. I want you to collect the remains, however much you can find, of Albert Wesker and bring them back here for analysis and confirmation. I want to be able to indict whoever is responsible for what happened in Kijuju based upon the evidence you find. We have to make sure that this thing is wrapped properly. You will have the complete assets of the B.S.A.A West Africa at your disposal as I said before. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, why me?"

Iscarot chuckles to himself, and Chris thinks that Iscarot could not possibly be a bigger asshole. "You have proven yourself quite competent Agent Redfield. You handled yourself well in Kijuju and your successful mission has allowed you this new opportunity, I suggest you take it." Iscarot says.

Chris chooses to ignore Iscarot's compliment and looks down at the folder in his hands. "These two new agents, you have files on them?" Chris asks.

"All you need to know is they are competent agents. I hand picked them myself." Iscarot replies, leaning back in his chair.

"That's all well and good, but I'd like to see their files anyway. I don't like working with people I don't know." Chris says.

"I am aware of that," Iscarot sighs, "I will see to it that you receive the files as soon as possible. Is that satisfactory?"

"Yes," Chris says a little taken aback by Iscarot's capitulation, "when does this mission start?" Chris asks.

"Immediately, but I don't expect you to start now especially after your recent excursion. So, first thing tomorrow." Iscarot says.

"That's not much time." Chris replies, exacerbated by the restrictive timeline.

"And despite that I am sure you will make do." Iscarot says as he gets up a signaling that Chris should leave.

Chris takes the hint and he is secretly relieved that he can finally get out Iscarot's office and back to his quarters. He gets up and leaves without another word.

* * *

Iscarot picks up his phone and calls his secretary. "Ms. Edu, call headquarters for me." Iscarot waits for his call to connect and says, "Yes, she went to the underground cave. Yes, I have added her to the mission and I will not pursue her transgression further sir. But, if you don't mind my inquiry, I would like to know why we are not pursuing it further. If she knows something we should find it out."

Iscarot pauses as he listens to his commander's response. "Yes, sir. Yes, sir I do always play by the book. No, I have not questioned her directly." Iscarot tells a small lie. Although he had direct orders to not question Agent Alamor, he never received orders to not question other agents about her.

"Yes, sir. I understand. Good evening sir." Iscarot hated not being in control, but he hated feeling like he was a pawn in someone else's chess game even more. He placed the phone back on the hook and went back to work.

* * *

When Chris arrives back at his quarters he is exhausted. It is just past 10 at night and he just wants to go to sleep. He will need to get to bed early if he is going to face tomorrow. He pulls his shirt off over his head. It refuses to cooperate clinging to his body stuck because of sweat and dirt. Eventually, it comes off and lands in a pile beside his couch. He heads toward his bathroom desperate for a shower.

Just then, Chris hears a knock on his door. 'Who could that be?' Chris thinks to himself as he walks over to the door and opens it.

Chris is surprised to find Sheva standing on the other side.

"Sheva? You okay?" Chris asks concerned for her well being.

"Can I come in?" She asks quietly.

"Yeah. Absolutely. Come in, please." Chris steps aside and lets Sheva walk past him into his quarters. As she walks by, Chris catches Sheva scent. It is a familiar and dizzying mix of oranges, vanilla and something undeniably feminine. He has to clinch his jaw to keep from reaching out to her and crushing her body against his.

They stand in the middle of his quarters for a minute in silence and Chris feels like it is an eternity. He starts to feel nervous and begins ringing his hands. Sheva is looking at everything but him and he is starting to feel anxious to gain her attention and find out what she wants.

"You want something to drink? I have water, some beer, it's malt but it's not bad." Chris asks as he walks over to the kitchen. He starts opening cupboards looking for cups. Finding two, he turns back to Sheva and finds her starring intently at him.

"You know what you want?" Chris asks not sure if he is still talking about drinks.

Sheva walks slowly toward him and he starts to feel cornered. A pretty hard feat for Sheva to accomplish considering that he has at least a foot of height and one hundred pounds of weight on her. But her eyes on him and her slow movement toward him have him transfixed. He feels his pants become tighter and suddenly he is acutely away that he is shirtless. He cannot move so he just watches her get closer to him.

She stops a few feet from him and asks him quietly, "Did you mean it?" He immediately knows what she is talking about. Did he mean it? Of course he did. He meant it with everything he had. He meant it with every atom in his body. He meant with every ounce of blood and sweat. He meant it more than he had ever meant it before or possibly could ever mean it again. How could she ask that? It was at that moment that he realized he could be in love with her, but he didn't dwell on that thought for too long. He had to focus if he was going to make it through this.

She continues toward him, but stops in front of him just out of reach. She is expectant for his response, ready to hear the worst, but hoping to hear what she wants.

She stands in front of him, strong and firm. She will not leave until he answers her. She is as she was during the mission. She is that same woman who impressed him while she dealt with that guard at the gate. Strong did not even begin to describe her.

Despite how he felt about her he still felt that this would lead to nothing but disaster. To prove it to himself he runs through the list of reasons why he is not currently burying himself in her again and again until neither of them can remember their names. The list is short but effective: she's your partner and she's too young. She just found out her parents may be involved with this whole Kijuju mess and she's really too young. She's vulnerable and she is way too young. He felt that he had to stop this whatever it was. It would be best for everyone. "It doesn't matter if I did or not Sheva," he replies and Sheva is quick to respond.

"How can you say that?" She demands, closing the distance between them. She is trying to cling to him, but he will not let her. He has to use every ounce of strength to keep her at arms length. Not because she is too strong, but because he wants so desperately to pull her to him.

"Sheva, it doesn't matter how I feel. We cannot do this." He says, but his body betrays him. He knows she can hear lust in his voice and he is certain that she can feel his skin warming because of her presence.

"Chris, I'm just asking for the truth." Sheva says quietly, her eyes intent on him, begging him to answer her.

"Sheva, I can't." It comes out like a desperate whisper; like the last gasp of a dying man.

She stares at him a moment, eyes searching him for his secrets. Finally, she pulls away from him and begins to walk around his quarters. Chris let's out a sigh of relief. "They put you in these quarters? They aren't the best." She says as she walks further away from him.

"I don't mind I'm hardly ever here." He says leaning on the kitchen counter, he feels like he is anchored there, so he just watches her.

She walks past his couch and then makes her way toward his unmade bed. "You don't make your bed." It was more of an observation than a question.

"What's the point? It'll just get messy again." She laughs just a little and Chris thinks he might make it out of this unscathed. Then she sits down on his bed and he thinks again. She sits there for about a minute silently. She rubs the sheets smooth around her and checks how much spring is left in the mattress by bouncing up and down. The bed squeaks loudly underneath her. Then she gets up turning back to inspect her handy work.

She turns to face him and walks toward him slowly, hips swaying naturally and femininely. She is slowly seducing him and he hopes that she is not doing it on purpose because she should not know that she can have this kind of effect on him. He feels his body react to her presence and he bites his cheek to keep from giving up his resistance.

"I can't just ignore it Chris, not unless you tell me that it was all a huge mistake." She says looking him straight in the eye.

"Sheva, please, just drop it." He says looking away from her. He cannot lie to her while she is looking at him like she is right now. Her eyes are large and imploring. They beg him for an answer, any answer. Her eyes beg him to end this one way or another.

"You started this Chris, look me in the eye and tell me you don't want me, tell me you made a mistake and you wish it never happened and that if you could you would take it all back. Tell me." She says to him and dares he to deny what he feels. Although, she says it quietly, like her heart is breaking into a million pieces, it seems as if she is screaming it in his face.

"You're too young; I'm too old. We come from completely different places. We both have too much on our plates right now. I mean, God Sheva, we barely know anything about each other." Chris says desperately. His reasons suddenly seem lame and inadequate, but they are the only things keeping his resolve steadfast.

"Those are ridiculous reasons, Chris. Tell me the truth, that's all I want." She says.

She is finally able to place her hands on his chest and presses her body against his and he is surprised that he has given in to her that much and he did not even realize it. He knows she can feel his arousal and he welcomes the pressure of her on him. He wants her so much he can barely stand it and he is starting to wonder why he is resisting at all. Still something is telling him to proceed no further, but that voice seems so distant now. His body is moving on its own accord when he grabs her by the shirt collar and crushes his lips against hers.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey all. Chapter 6 is here. Finally have Sheva's POV and I think this chapter will shed some light into her motives.

I have changed to tense to make it easier to read.

The M rating comes into effect for this chapter, so beware. Also, this is my first try at M rating worth writing, so please be gentle.

Please read and review. Thanks to Shackledtotheplanet for your last review. It made me realize that Sheva needed to be a little more fleshed out.

My Sheva is both strong and vulnerable. With background the game gave her, I thought that she should be a little more vulnerable than the game made her at least behind closed doors. I hope she isn't too OOC for people.

Enjoy

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Chapter 6 – Bad Habits

He was kissing her and it took her a second to catch up to the sudden change in the situation. When she finally did react she clung to him as if she never wanted to let go. She jumped up to meet his lips with her own and her hands clutched in his hair just at the nape of his neck. She was moaning again, just like the last time they kissed. She could not keep the sounds from escaping her throat and she was not sure she wanted to. She felt his tongue run along her lips and she immediately allowed him access. He took full advantage and deepened the kiss using his tongue in a way that made her stomach turn flip over.

His hands were all over her body. They were strong and firm and although she did not know for certain yet, she believed that his hands are capable. At first his hands clutched at her shirt collar, jolting her forward into him. They travelled up to cup her face and held her firmly, possessively in place so that he could control their kiss. She gave in willingly. His hands quickly travelled down to her lower back pulling her closer. She was firmly pressed to him and can feel him fully and was his arousal completely obvious to her. She could not stifle a particularly loud moan into his open mouth and she felt his lips curl into a quick grin. His hands reached down to cup her ass and she took it as an invitation to wrap her legs around his waist.

He steadies her in his arms and quickly turned them around. His hands holding her firmly to him as set her down on the kitchen counter behind them, careful not to break their kiss. He rested his hands on her hips and she squeezed her legs and tried to pull him closer in response, but he pulled away from her abruptly. Oh god, he's doing it again, she thought and looked him in the eyes waiting to hear him give her another excuse. She bit her lower lip in anticipation; both their breaths were ragged from their kissing. Instead he said "So beautiful," it was so soft she barely heard him. His eyes slowly travelled down to her lips and his lips curled up into a grin again. "I love it when you do that," he said a little louder than last time as he starred at her teeth trapped lip and it was her turn to grin.

Their pace slowed down as he continued to take her in with his eyes and hands and nose and tongue like he was fervently trying to memorize her body. His hands cupped her bra-covered breast, kneading it until her nipple hardened. He used his thumb to tease her nipple and she inhaled deeply as she leaned back bracing by her arms. She let her head drop back, closing her eyes, revelling in the sensation. He used his tongue to taste the skin on her neck. She felt his slick tongue glide across her skin and she let out a low moan. She felt him grin against her skin as he said in between long, languid licks, "I also love it when you do that."

Having had a sudden need to feel the hard muscles of his body under her fingertips, she reached for his stomach and ran her slim fingers lightly up his abs. She felt his muscles tighten under her hand and although she may have been mistaken, she could have sworn she heard his breath hitch just a bit.

"You seem to love a lot of things, Mr. Redfield," she replied bringing her head back forward and brandished a new smile on her lips. He kissed his way up to her lips, but stopped before he reached them and stared into her eyes. He looked at her meaningfully but he never said a word. He looked like he wanted to tell her everything that was on his mind but he can't or he won't at this point she did not care which. She just knew she wanted him like this for as long as he was willing to give himself to her.

He was the only person she has let herself get this close to since her family died. Even Josh did not know all of her deep dark secrets and she had no inclination to share them with him. But Chris made her want to tell him everything she has ever thought or will ever think. For years, she has kept her head down, worked hard, and done her best. But, that was all she has done and although she was safe she was also incredibly lonely. She has friends and people genuinely liked her, but she had no love-life to speak of unless you count the light smattering of boyfriends she had over the years. She had been alone mostly; trying to avoid getting attached to people she may eventually lose someday. She knew she should not be so worried about it, but sometimes the pain of losing her parents washed over her and it was all she could think of. She dreaded the thought of giving herself over to someone and feeling the crushing weight of being unable to find him there when she needed him.

But with Chris things have been different. She surprised herself with her reaction to him. Ever since he gave her the choice to leave him and the mission to head back to the base she has been doing things she promised herself she would never do. She stayed with him even though every cell in her body told her to get out of there as soon as possible. Granted, she had stayed for her comrades and she had stayed for her people as well. But, she would be lying to herself if she said she did not stay, at least in part, for him.

At first she felt she was acting stupidly as she thought her school-girl crush was going to get her killed, but she kept on by his side faithfully. When they got back and she saw him in so much pain she stepped in to support him, telling him things he wanted to hear no matter how uncertain she was of their truth. She hoped that if she stuck around he might see her as more than a partner and more than a friend. And then the news of her parents hit her like a freight train and she was suddenly reminded of what she was getting herself into. She thought she would forget about him and that he was more trouble than he is worth, but she knew that they were lies. Then she thought that this was more trouble than she could stand and she knew it was the truth.

So she left the base and went to find out what happened to her parents by herself like she has always been. The next thing she knew he was there for her, begging her to come back with him and it was all too much. She cried because she was unabashedly happy, she cried because she was incredibly sad and she cried because she knew that this man could change her life and it scared the shit out of her. And then he kissed her and she melted, but it was over as quickly as it started and she felt that the world was playing a cruel joke with her.

The whole trip back she was deciding. She could ignore the aching need inside her that demanded she let him in or she could simply say yes to that need and accept everything that came with it. She paced around in her apartment obsessively biting her lip mulling it over. She was walking out the door before she even knew the answer. Now, she was staring at him and she just wanted to curl up inside him and feel his warmth forever.

The intensity of the moment had leveled off and she could feel her heart rate slowing. She could feel something changing between them since he starting working his magic on her neck and she felt she should say something to defuse this silent stalemate they seemed to be trapped in. She wanted to somehow get both of them out of their own heads because she knew that they both were unable or unwilling to say what was on their minds.

She took a chance and was the first to break the silence. "I miss them," she says. He smiles at her like he knows that the burden of the death of her parents is one she carries alone and it takes her breath away that they can both know each other so well. She marks this as the first day of a long lifetime of sharing stories about her past with him no matter how innocuous the stories may be. She knew then that she could trust him not only with her life as she had learned during the mission but with her heart and soul as well.

"Come with me," he said taking her hand. She followed without a word. He led her to his bed and they crawled in together. He curled up behind her and covered them with a blanket. Her head rests on his arm while his other arm is curled across her side and stomach. She can feel his even breaths on the back of her neck. "Any time you want to talk about them, you just go right ahead. I'm here, okay?"

She fell asleep to the feel of his breath softly blowing over the shell of her ear.

* * *

She woke up to a loud knock on the door and Chris head lying across her stomach. It must be early because the sun has barely come out. Sheva figures it must be about 5 o'clock in the morning, which is too early to have to answer the door.

Sheva was lying with Chris curled up against her back and one of Chris' arms wrapped around her waist. His steady breath warmed the back of her neck and stirred the hairs there. She felt his head shift and turn towards the door. She kept her eyes closed as she felt him dislodge himself from her. He moved slowly so as not to wake her, but the bed creaked loudly under the strain of his movements. She heard his feet shuffle across the floor and stop at the door.

He cleared his throat before asking, "how's there?" A muffled voice responded back and Chris opened the door. His conversation with the interloper ended quickly and he closed the door behind him. By then Sheva's interest was piqued so she roused herself and turned to find Chris standing by the door holding 2 large file folders. He was reading one of them intently and did not notice that she was up.

"Hey," she said quietly unable to stop a smile from blossoming on her face.

Chris looked over at her with an equally big smile on his face. "Hey, you sleep well?" he asked his eyebrows raised in delighted surprise.

"Yes, very well," she replied while stretching her sleep idled limbs under the bed sheet that covered her.

"Good," he said simply, dropping the files unceremoniously on the floor. He strode purposefully and crawled over the bed toward her. He was lying down beside her, pressing the full length of his body along hers. He was kissing her before she knew it and she wondered when he learned to be so fast. Sheva let out a surprised squeak before she kissed him back fervently. He used his massive arms to gather her body up and pull it on top of him. He sat up with her and pulled her legs around his waist so that she straddled him. He managed to do all that in one fell swoop and she found herself entirely astonished once again. How exactly he managed to pull all of that off without once stopping their kiss, she would never know. His hands kneaded and squeezed her body deliciously causing her moans to reach a fever pitch. He clutched her body to his and she could feel the hard swell of his arousal press into her. She ground down on him and elicited a loud groan from him.

He pulled away from her and looked at her with half-laden eyes "You sure?" He asked her with desire clearly written all over his face. His face was flush and his lips slick from their kissing. She knew he could see her desire on her face too. He could have felt it on her super heated skin or saw it in her parted lips or heard it in her ragged breath. To make sure that she could not be misunderstood she languidly ground down on him again, while reaching down to grab the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head. She looked down at him through her eyelashes and slowly grinned at him. "What do you think?" She asked never stopping the movement of her hips over him.

Chris flipped her on her back and pulled away quickly to pull her pants and panties off. He peeled her clothes off with an air of reverence, but she could still detect a slight sense of desperate longing in the way he removed her clothing. She decided to help him and reached behind herself to unclasp her bra. He levied the full weight of his gaze upon her chest as his eyes admired her breasts in anticipation of feeling their weight in his hands and their salty taste on his tongue. When she was done she flung the bra away not paying much attention to where it landed. He continued to stare at her for a few more moments longer and then looked up to meet her eyes and share a small smile with her.

He jumped off the bed quickly and stripped off his pants and his boxers never once taking his eyes off her body. "You mind passing me the box in there?" He gestured at the bedside table to her left. She reached in and found an unopened box of condoms. She took the box and reached over to hand it to him. He took the box and pulls a strip of condoms out ripping the one off. He puts the rest back in the box and puts the box on the floor next to the bed. He proceeds to put one of the condoms on and returns his gaze to Sheva.

Sheva could not help but writhe under his gaze. She felt her body warming under his intent look. His eyes roamed all over her body in a way that made her feel like he was making a list in his head of all the places on her body he would memorize with his tongue. Sheva returned the favour with her own eyes. She surveyed his body but ultimately rested on his cock. It stood proudly in front of him. It's head purple and glistening in the soft light of the dawn. Sheva got wetter just looking at it and could not think of anything she wanted more than to get to feel it inside of her.

He got back on the bed almost as quickly as he had jumped off it and was kissing her lips even faster. Her hips cradled his as he settled on top of her. He propped himself up over her by placing his forearms beside her head. His body was even more enormous over her and it was not just the shear size of him that overwhelmed her; it was the musky scent that wafted from him. It was the heat that radiated off every inch of him. It was the raw physical power that she knew his was capable of; it was the same power she had seen him exhibit during the mission. She knew it was pent up inside of him ready to burst at any minute. She could not wait for that moment to finally come. All of him turned her on in the worst way.

His kisses moved from her lips and worked their way down to her chest. By then her breath kept hitching in her throat and her vision began to go blurry. He licked the valley between her breast and she moaned loudly. She could tell he was smirking again, but she did not care she just did not want him to stop. He turned his head to the side and took her left nipple into his mouth. She felt the sharp scrap of his teeth on her and she moaned her approval as her arms came up to wrapped themselves around his head to keep him in place.

Her reaction was too much for him to take and he drew himself back up her body until their heads were level. He waited until she opened up her eyes then he reached down between them and positioned himself between her dripping folds. She was more than ready for him; in fact she had been since entering his apartment. She wanted this more than she had wanted anything in a very long while.

As he slowly slid into her, she felt an overwhelming sense of pleasure over take her.

* * *

She cried out as the shear force of her orgasm washed over her. She wrapped her arms around him and they stayed like that until the both of them have caught their breaths.

He rolled off her and gathered her up in his arms. Sheva felt sated and safe while lying with him. She felt none of the distance she had felt with other men. Lying with him just felt right.

"We have to do that as often as possible," he said dreamily.

"We'll have to make time for eating and sleeping and working," she replied laughing at his oddly timed sense of humour. But, she had to admit she was definitely welcome to the idea.

"Oh... yeah, of course. We have to make time for the essentials, but all our other time will be spent doing variations of that," he said enthusiastically. "All your free time is officially booked as of this moment," he added with finality.

"So, all my vacation time is officially 'Sex with Chris time' now?" She asked with humour in her voice. Her back was nestled firmly into his chest. Her unkempt hair stuck to her sweat drenched neck uncomfortably, but she ignored it lest she be force to pull away from Chris.

"Yes and you cannot take any overtime either. All your free time now belongs to me and this bed, or your bed or any flat horizontal surface really. Or vertical surface or… whatever," he replied softly into her ear while tightening his hold on her. "Anywhere, anytime."

She chuckled at his post coital rambling. "You are rather talkative after sex, aren't you?"

"Are you complaining?" He asked raising himself up so he could look at the side of her face.

"No… I'm not complaining at all, just an observation." She said trying to hide the smile that was blossoming on her lips. She could only manage to keep it to a grin.

"Good, cause you are going to get a lot of after sex talkativeness from me." He said settling in as if he is ready to go back to sleep.

"I look forward to it," she replied sleepily as she felt a sudden wave of fatigue wash over her. Her last thought was of the promises he seemed to make so casually and how though it scared her to hear them she longed to believe every word he said.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey all. Thanks to those who read and those who to took the time to review.

I am going to try and get chapters up quicker and maybe finish this story by the end of the year. Cross my fingers. As a result, chapters will be shorter.

Still no beta, so excuse the mistakes. I really need to get hooked on phonics.

Resident Evil is owned by Capcom, so don't sue. I figured I should say that at least once in this story.

Enjoy.

44444444

Chapter 7: Luxury - Cococure

Chris is a little bit surprised to wake up with a beautiful woman in his arms, but he certainly isn't upset about it. To say it had been a while since he had a woman in his bed would be a massive understatement.

After their wonderful bout of lovemaking, Chris and Sheva fell asleep, both of them sated and satisfied. He wrapped his large muscular arms around her feeling just about as happy as he has felt in a very long time.

_Things are finally going my way_, he thought to himself as he pulled Sheva closer to him. His actions elicited a soft sigh from Sheva. She curled into his body even more seeking his warm and comforting presence.

Chris dared to kiss her forehead hoping not to wake her, but needing to feel her skin on his lips too much to stop himself. He definitely had strong feelings for this girl, no, this woman in his arms. Damn it, he loved her. More than he had loved a woman before in his life. It scared him a little, but given the last 3 years he was not going to let this chance slip away. He would do what he had to do to keep her, to make her happy and maybe one day… He was getting ahead of himself after all; this thing between them was brand new and it was happening so fast.

And he didn't know for sure what was going on in her head yet. She had given him some insight yesterday. That small bit of information she shared about her parents was illuminating. It told him that she was reluctant to share her feelings with others, but she felt comfortable sharing her feelings about her parents with him. After an admission like that he could not push her any further so he stifled his own longing for her and took her to his bed where he held her until she fell asleep. It was a small step, but it was in the right direction. He still didn't know if her feelings were as deep as his were for her and that worried him, but he would stay with her. He was sure that there wasn't much he would do for her.

One thing Chris did know was that he could lie here with a naked Sheva pressed against him for quite some time given the chance. She must have sensed he was thinking about her because he felt her stir beneath him and let out a soft yawn as she woke up.

"Hey," she said simply.

"Good morning… again," he said in reply.

"How long have you been starring at me while I slept?" She asked with a sly grin on her lips.

"Just long enough to make it creepy," he replied pulling her closer to him.

She laughed freely her body shaking against him. Her reaction drew a soft chuckle out of him and they both laugh at his silly joke. She slowly stopped laughing and looked up at him coyly through her eyelashes. She pulled herself up along his body so that she could take his earlobe into her mouth. She softly stroked it with her tongue and then lightly bit down on it with her teeth.

"You're just a lecherous old man, aren't you?" she whispered into his ear and then pulled away. Chris had to stifle a groan as his body reacted to her surprising onslaught on his ear.

"Sheva, don't start something you can't finish. And I'm not old," he said his arousal obvious in his voice.

"Who says I can't finish it and then you agree you _are_ lecherous?" She replied with a wide grin on her face. She was certainly proud of the reaction she got from him and looked eager to get him to react more.

"Maybe, I should have said you shouldn't start something _we_ can't finish. We have an early mission we need to start," he said disappointment clear in his voice. This was a mission he was not happy to start. There were too many things happening at once. Too many things that he had to keep track of. He did not want to have to add a potentially long mission to the list of things going on in his life. "Trust me, in any other situation, someone would have to literally drag me out of this bed to get me away from you, but this mission… it has to happen. I'm sure that you know the reasons why." His hand found hers as he talked. He wrapped his fingers through hers and pulled the back of her hand to his mouth to press his lips to it.

Her eyes clouded and the happy expression on her face changed slightly, but she quickly recovered and her expression switched back almost as fast as it changed. She gave him a weak smile and made a sound that sounded like a laugh, but didn't quite make it. "Right," was all she said and she moved to pulled away.

He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her so that her chest was pressed flush to his. He was not going let her hide from him, not after last night and this morning, not ever again. "Hey, don't do that. Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm happy to get this thing going. I'm finally going to get answers about my parents. But…I'm afraid too, I guess. I… don't… I don't know what I'll find. It's…scary." She said into his chest and once again she was that small girl and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her all over again.

"We'll do this together," he said and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"I'd better take a shower," she said as she moved to get up. He released her reluctantly and relaxed back into the bed. He watched her moving out of the bed. The bed sheet that covered her slipped over her body and revealed smooth caramel skin. He watched the muscles of her back work under her skin tensing and relaxing fluidly like a dancers. The curve of her hips and bottom flaring extravagantly and completely feminine. He certainly was one luck man. She stopped at the edge of the bed and looked over her shoulder at him. She gave him her cheekiest grin and said, "care to join me."

He was out of the bed before she was and practically dragged her, although she laughed the entire time, into the shower with him.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, Chapter 8 here.  
The story is finally getting to the plot, so it should be more exciting by the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing.

Chapter 8 - Silently

Chris was in the middle of pulling his shirt over his head when Sheva walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her. He had come out of the shower first and he had left her there to finish up. He had to get away from her or they would never leave the shower.

As he finished pulling it on the rest of the way, Chris tried in vain not to watch her loose hair driping with water as it poured between her breasts and not think about how his tongue followed a similar path just that morning. Chris smiled to himself as he thought about last night and that morning. He thought of Sheva's supple caramel skin under his hands. The taste of her, earthy and sweet, lingered on his lips and the sound of her cries, as he pushed into her over and over again, echoed in his ears. He grabbed a belt from the closet and began to loop it through the loops in his pants as he felt the familiar warmth pool in the pit of his stomach. If he let himself, he could say that he was pretty darn happy.

His eyes followed her as she moves around his apartment, collecting her clothing. "I can't find my panties," Sheva said a look of discontent on her face.

"Oh, really? Uh, they should be around here somewhere," Chris replied looking around his apartment, he could have sworn he had thrown them by the coach. He felt a little bit bad that he had strewn her clothing all over his apartment and not placed them neatly on the floor that morning, but given the circumstances he was not sure she could blame him and she certainly didn't while he was doing it. Chris walked over to the coach to take a better look.

"Yes, but where?" She asked while crouching down to look under the bed. "This is all your fault, you know."

Chris turned around with a sly grin on his face. "Yeah, I know," he said turning back to look around the coach, but still could not find it. He moved the coach away from the wall and found a lavender cloth tucked behind it. Chris grabbed it and held it up for Sheva to see. Sheva could not conceal the glee on her face and ran over to him, kissed him on the cheek and grabbed her panties from him.

As he watched her walk back to the bed, a slow satisfied grin grew on his lips. Yup, definitely happy.

* * *

After they finished dressing, Sheva left Chris quarters and headed to her apartment to change her clothing. They agreed to meet in the hanger just before the mission.

When Chris arrived at the hanger Josh was already there getting two vehicles ready for mission. Two Army green coloured Jeeps sat prepped with supplies and equipment, ready to head out. Two other agents were helping prepare the Jeeps. Chris recognized them from the files that he requested on the two new agents that were joining him on the mission at Iscarot's behest.

The female agent was a tall, slender dark skinned woman with short-cropped hair. Her limbs stretched regally as gathered supples. Her face was framed by a high forehead and high cheekbones. She had a bright smile, full lips and dark eyes.

Chris knew from the file that the female agent was Agent Sarafina Adou sent from the East Africa division. She was 29 years of age and had 13 years of military experience. She was from Kenya and had joined the Kenyan army at 16. She quickly moved up the ranks in the army and later was transferred to an African Union peacekeeping mission in The Congo where she led the mission for 5 years. She was recruited by the B.S.A.A after she successfully suppressed an outbreak of what later was determined to be the T-Virus in a rural area in the southern part of the country. She had been with the organization for a little over a year and was still getting her footing, but Chris felt that she had great potential.

The male agent was Agent Cesc Rodriguez from Spain. An inscrutable man with an average build, dark brown hair and light ice blue eyes. His file wasn't as informative as Agent Adou's had been, but he was able to tell that Agent Rodriguez had been with the B.S.A.A for 9 years. He was part of the clean up team for the Kennedy mission in Spain. He was a bit of a specialist in the field.

"Hey, listen up," Chris said in an effort to get his teams attention. Agents Stone, Rodriguez and Adou all stopped assembling supplies and filed in in front of Chris.

Chris gave a friendly smile and said, "I'm Chris Redfield, team leader. It's good to meet you both," Chris said as he looked between them. Then turned to Josh and said, "Josh, how's the load up coming?"

"Pretty good, we are almost done," Josh replied. Josh seemed better. Over the past few days his mood seemed to have deteriorated. He seemed lost at times, unable to focus on anything. But now he seemed like a weight had been lifted.

"I'm sure you have already meet Agent Stone," Chris said as he gestured at the agent he referenced.

Agent Rodriguez spoke first. "Yes, Agent Stone has been keeping us very busy," he said with a sly smile.

"But, he has been very helpful in filling us in on this mission," Agent Adou added, "he told us that you all have been to the site already."

"Yes, Sheva, I mean Agent Alamor and I have been to the site twice in the last week. Agent Stone, Agent Alamor and I were there just yesterday." Chris replied a bit perturbed by his little slip. He would have to watch himself when it came to Sheva. He didn't want to blow their cover so to speak.

"I'll fill everyone in on the details of the mission when Agent Alamor gets here," Chris added.

Josh's face lit up and a big smile blossomed on his face. "Speak of the devil," he said.

Chris, confused, turned around in time to see Sheva walking towards him. He couldn't keep a smile from forming on his lips. Sheva's eyes locked on his and she smiled in return. Chris had to stifle the urge to grab on to her and pull her into a kiss that told her exactly how much he wanted her at that moment. Sheva stopped at his side just close enough that he could feel a little bit of the warmth of her body.

"Agent Alamor. Nice of you to finally join us," Chris said his voice sounding stern and scolding and it took all of his energy to keep his face looking that way too.

"Sorry, something came up and I had to handle it personally," she replied, her face serious as cancer. Chris' eyes bugged out of his head at her reply and he had to stifle the cough.

"Right," Chris said with a nervous smile on his face. He couldn't believe she had brought up what they had done in his shower that morning. The memory was still fresh in his mind, her full swollen lips stretched around his straining cock sucking him into oblivion. It made his cock twitch and swell just thinking about it. He will make her pay for that later he thought as he tried to regain his composure. "Uh, this is Agent Alamor, she has been working with Josh and I on this mission so far. She is a capable agent and I think you all will be more than happy working with her," Chris said and he gestured to Sheva. "Agent Alamor, this is Agent Adou, she is here from the Kenyan office," Chris said as he gestured to Agent Adou. Sheva stepped forward and offered her hand to Agent Adou.

"Please, call me Sarafina," Agent Adou replied, gladly taking Sheva's hand and shaking it firmly. "I look forward to working with you."

"And I you. It is a pleasure to meet you," Sheva replied.

"This is Agent Rodriguez," Chris said indicating the other agent.

"The pleasure is mine," Rodriguez said while he gave Sheva his most charming smile and offered her his hand. Chris had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from voicing his disapproval.

Sheva smiled back at Rodriguez and took him up on his offer to shake in greeting, but soon found Rodriguez's lips on the back of her hand. "It's nice to meet you too," she said simply, a bit surprised by his gesture. Rodriguez took an extra second to finally release Sheva's hand. It took all Chris' self control to keep from grabbing Rodriguez by the scruff of his neck and yanking him away from Sheva. Chris's hot temper had gotten him in trouble before. He was kicked out of the Air Force after all, but he had mellowed out of late, especially after Jill disappeared. Despite his reformed temperament, Chris felt his blood slowly begin to boil at the sight of Rodriguez's hand curled around Sheva's.

"Well," Chris said bitterly, but at that point he didn't care how his tone of voice sounded to the others, "we should get going. I just have to make a quick phone call."

While the others continued to pack up the rest of the supplies and talked amongst themselves, Chris took out his portable phone and called the nursing station in the hospital hoping he would get a chance to talk to Jill before he headed out. After 3 rings someone picked up the phone.

"Nursing station A4," a woman on the other end said.

"Hi, yeah, is the patient Jill Valentine awake? It's her friend Chris. I'd like to talk to her," Chris asked.

"Let me check," the woman replied.

Chris waited anxiously on the line. He wanted to talk to Jill to find out how she was doing.

The nurse picked up the phone again and said, "I'm sorry, but the patient was given sleeping medication and she is currently asleep."

"What, what happened?" Chris could not imagine what could have happened. The last time he talked to her she said she was fine. She never once mentioned she was having trouble sleeping.

"The patient's condition has gotten worse over the night. That is all the chart says." The nurse replied, but despite the fact her words reflected sympathy Chris could not detect any in her voice.

"That's ridiculous, can I talk to Doctor Ncheku please?" Chris said dejectedly, but he was determined to find out what was going on.

"Just one second," the nurse replied sounding slightly annoyed.

Chris held the line and paced back and forth in the hanger. He could not believe something like this could happen. Jill was supposed to be getting better. He suddenly felt guilty for spending last night with Sheva. Maybe he should have been with Jill instead.

"Hello, Mr. Redfield?" Doctor Ncheku asked.

"Yes, doc. How is she? I thought she was getting better," he asked his voice filled with tension.

"I thought so too, but what is happening right now is more likely fatigue. Your friend has been through a lot, she probably has a long time to go before she heals from her physical and mental injuries," the doctor replied reassuringly.

"So, you're saying that what's happening to her now is psychological?" he asked.

"Possibly, but I cannot be sure. I will send her for testing to find that out. We cannot know what she went through during her time under the control of that device. Nor can we know what effect removing it had on her physically and psychologically. Only time will tell, but for now, Mr. Redfield, rest assured that she is getting the best care and know that she only required a sedative to go to sleep." The doctor's words did seem to make sense to Chris and he felt a whole lot better having talked to him.

"Thanks Doctor Ncheku, I really appreciate it," Chris said gratefully.

"No problem Chris, goodbye."

"Bye." Chris hung up the phone and turned back to his team.

"All right, let's load up and head out." He would definitely go to see Jill after he got back.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, Chapter 9 is here.

Enjoy. Thanks for reading and reviewing. This was not beta'd and I barely went through it so please excuse any mistakes.

Chapter 9 - Gravity

* * *

The ride to the underground cave was much less tense that the last trip. Sheva was safely in tow, the team was together, everyone was on their way to the site, and the mission was finally beginning. Everything was going according to plan.

The team was split in two with Chris and Sheva in one car and Josh, Cesc and Sarafina in the other. Chris and Sheva were in the lead car with the other team following.

"I can't believe you said that," Chris said to Sheva with a sideways glance.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sheva replied.

"You know what I'm talking about," Chris said with ire in his voice.

Sheva tried to stifle a laugh, but failed. "Well, it was worth seeing your face turn all red and seeing you stammer over your words. It was all in good fun," Sheva said in her defence.

"Yeah, well don't do it again. The last thing we need is for everyone to find out. You know how the B.S.A.A frowns on mingling among its agents,"

"Yes, I know, sorry," Sheva said and then after a long pause added, "is there a way I could possibly make it up to you?"

The side of Chris mouth crept up slowly, but his eyes remained focused on the road. "Maybe later."

Sheva looked over at him and smiled herself. They spent the rest of the trip in a companionable silence.

* * *

"We're here. What the hell?" Chris said as he pulled in front of the cave entrance. The other team pulled in behind him. The entrance is crawling with people in HazMat suits, all of them milling about as if they belonged there. There must have been over forty people and all of them were contaminating their crime scene. Chris looked across to Sheva, trying to read her expression, trying to tell her that he didn't know that this, whatever it is, was going to happen. But, Sheva was inscrutable; he couldn't read her at all. "Shit, Sheva I…" He didn't know what to say, but Sheva cut him off before he could continue anyway.

"We should find out what's going on," Sheva said with quiet authority and she was out of the car before he could stop her. Chris jumped out right after her and came around to the passenger side. He found the team members from the other car standing beside her.

"What the hell is going on," Cesc asked as he adjusted him weapon in his holster.

"I don't know," Chris replied as his gaze skimmed over Sheva's face. "Let's find out. Keep your weapons holstered, I don't want any misunderstandings. Sarafina, Josh, I want you to stay here. Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious and watch our backs. Cesc, Sheva, you come with me. We're going to find to who is in charge here." Chris said and headed in the direction of the entrance of the cave, leading the way for the other two agents.

Inside the cave was even more crowded than outside the cave. People were everywhere, moving things, labelling things, taking notes and discussing their work with each other. There was no way he could possibly know what had been taken and what had been left behind. They looked like they had been into everything. His heart clinched at the thought of losing the chance to go through the site not because of the mission, but because all of this meant that he couldn't keep his promise to Sheva. He wasn't sure how he could possibly make it up to her.

"They're taking things out of here. This place will be practically irretrievable if this goes on any longer," Cesc whispered to Chris. Chris' jaw clinched. He knew that he needed to do something, anything to stop it.

"Who's in charge here," Chris demanded in a booming voice. He caught the attention of many, but all turned back to whatever they were working on. All except one. A man in a light gray suit continued to look over at Chris, but also continued to talk to a subordinate who furiously took down notes. Chris immediately recognized him as the man in charge and began walking toward him. Sheva and Cesc followed hot on his heels.

"You in charge?" Chris asked as barely checked rage coursed through his veins.

"You must be from the B.S.A.A. Chris Redfield, I presume. My name is Maximillion Cooper Esq.," the man said in British accent as he expended his hand in greeting. A slight smile that did not reflect in his eyes was plastered on his face.

"You know me," was all Chris offered in reply. It was not a question, but instead an observation.

"Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Redfield," Maximillion said with mirth in his voice, but still none in his eyes.

"This is a B.S.A.A. site. You are trespassing on private property. You must leave everything where it is and you must come with us," Chris said in a slow pace in order to keep his rising anger from spilling over the edge.

Maximillion starred at Chris then slowly reached into the front inside pocket of his jacket. Chris automatically went for his weapon. Maximillion held up his hand innocently, "I just want to show you something,"

"Slowly," Chris said and he allowed Maximillion to pull out a neatly folded wad of papers and handed it over to Chris.

Chris looked from Maximillion to the papers and then back to Maximillion again, "What's that?" Chris said sounding very unimpressed.

"It's for you. Go on, take it," Maximillion said innocently.

"What is it?" Chris demanded.

"What it is, Mr. Redfield, is a legal document stating that this cave and several other locations in Kijuju are now the property of PharMa Corporation. This document says that you are the trespasser, not me,"

"What?" Sheva said behind Chris. Surprised by her outburst, he whirled back to look at her, but she kept her eyes on Maximillion. Chris turned back to Maximillion and snatched the legal document out of Maximillion's hand. He began to read it with disbelief, but soon realized that Maximillion was telling the truth.

"PharMa Corporation has purchased TriCell and all of its subsidiaries. That means we own this piece of land and everything on it. As such, you are trespassing. You have 5 minutes to round up your team," Maximillion turned to look at Sheva and Cesc before continuing, "and be on your way. Have a nice day," Maximillion said and promptly walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey everyone. I have another update. It took longer than I thought. Work pretty much kick my butt since about September. That is finally over, that is of course until next year.

If anyone is still reading this story I will try to get another chapter up soon, like before new year's and it will be longer.

Enjoy.

Time moved slowly for Sheva. It seemed to take an eternity to blink or to swallow. Previously mundane tasks she did everyday, without even thinking about, now lasted long intervals for Sheva. Her breaths howled loudly within her like wind through a tunnel. The thundering whistle filled her ears blocking all other sound. She was sure that Chris was talking, maybe he was even talking to her, and she could not be sure. All she heard was her steady intake of breath and its slow release.

She watched others walking past her in slow motion. Taking what could be the last pieces of her family into inventory like the pieces were products ready to be shipped for sale. Like it didn't matter. Was she the only one who could see that her parents did matter; that she needed what was left in this dank dark cave like she needed air or food.

She needed to get out of there.

The cool night air hit her face first, and then slowly washed over her body. The hair on her arms tingled on the cool air sending a calming sensation throughout her body. She took a deep breath relishing the fact that she could finally relax. She felt the pressure slowly lift from her shoulders. Sheva lifted her head to the sky, closed her eyes and tried not to thing about what was happening in thee cave behind her.

"Sheva!" Sheva could hear him calling her from somewhere deep inside the cave and she felt like running. Sheva wanted to get out of there; run away and never look back. Sheva wanted to forget every bad thing that ever happened here; her parents, her short time with her uncle, her mission with Chris. Sheva wanted to forget so badly that she was almost willing to forget any of the good that may have come out of it.

"Sheva! Where are you?" He yelled again. Sheva could here the concern in his voice and she almost felt guilty for making him worry so much. But she just couldn't make herself reply because replying would mean that she meant to stay, it would mean that she wasn't thinking about leaving everything behind.

"God damn it Sheva, where the hell are you?" Chris yelled as be exited the cave.

Sheva couldn't bring herself to ignore him any longer. "I'm here. I'm over here." Chris found her quickly after that. He rushed over to her and her heart broke a little because of the look on his face. He looked, well... he looked worried and sad and heartbroken and a little bit guilty. Looking at him just made Sheva felt all the more guilty for wanting to flee.

"Thank God Sheva. I was worried about you. You okay?" Chris asked as he visually inspected her. She wondered if he thought he could see her broken heart.

"I'm fine. I just needed to get out of there. I couldn't breathe." Sheva replied.

"Jesus, Sheva. I feel like shit."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but... I made you a promise. A promise I still intend to keep. Do you trust me?"

"What?" What was he asking her? If Sheva was honest with herself, she would have to admit she already knew. Could she give him what he asking for was the real question? Should she have made promises with her body she was not sure her mind could keep? Could he trust her?

"Do you trust me?" He starred into her eyes as he asked again and a slight smile on his lips. His eyes full of hope.

"Yes," her reply was barely audible to herself, so she was not sure how he heard it. The next thing she knew be had wrapped her tiny frame in his giant arms and he was hugging her tightly.

"Thank God," sighed in relief. "I thought you were running away. I can't lose you too."

"I'm not going anywhere," Sheva simply said. That was all she could give for now.

"I've got a plan. I just hope it works," Chris said as he pulled away and got his radio out if his pocket.

"Who are you calling?" Sheva asked.

"This is Agent Redfield, over." Chris said over the radio. I'm calling someone I'm to sure we can trust, but we don't really have any other options." Chris replied as he waited for someone on the other end of the radio to respond. Sheva looked at him sceptically. Sheva was not sure if she could let herself become hopeful again. Chris reached out and squeezed Sheva's shoulder reassuringly.

"Yes, Agent Redfield, this is home base, over," a woman replied over the radio.

"Get Iscarot on the line."


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, I did my best to get this done. I hope it okay grammar wise, I did it pretty fast on my tablet. Hope you enjoy. The plot really gets developed in this one. In my haste to get the last chapter up I forgot to give the chapter a title, but I think it is so short it doesn't need one. So let's just forget about it.

Chapter 11 - Playing Possum

Iscarot was reading the written account given by Agent Valentine in his darkened office. He had been pouring over her statement for the last 3 hours trying to figure out how an agent could have gone missing for so long. It just didn't make sense to him. How could Wesker have gotten away with holding a B.S.A.A. Agent for over 2 years?

There is definitely some odd going on, Iscarot thought. The sharp ring of his telephone snapped him out of his reverie. Welcome to the change in subject he picked up the phone, "yes."

"Mr. Iscarot, I have Agent Redfield on the line," Iscarot's secretary, Ms. Edu said over the line.

"Patch him through," he said in reply to his secretary.

"Go ahead Agent Redfield, you're on the line with Mr. Iscarot," Ms. Edu said to Chris.

"Iscarot, we ran into a little trouble here at the site," Chris began to explain. He wasn't sure exactly what to tell Iscarot. This whole mission had turned into a massive clusterfuck. Not only had the site been irrecoverably contaminated he had just essentially been kick off the site by some suit. Give Chris a zombie horde any day just keep these corporate types the hell away from him. He was a grunt essentially. Never tested too well in school, always just enough to get by. But that wasn't because he was stupid, well mostly wasn't because he was stupid. He had just always been a physical guy. Chris was captain of the soccer team in high school and college. It was more his physique than his test scores that got him into the Air Force and if Chris had half a brain he would still be there.

Chris' other problem with Iscarot was that he wasn't sure he could trust him, so Chris didn't want to give him too much information and tip his hand. Chris would just stick to the basics for the time being. "We weren't the first to arrive and the site isn't available to us right now."

"Agent Redfield, start from the beginning and explain to me exactly what is going on," came Iscarot's coolly exasperated reply.

"Well, there are people here and..." Chris began again. He was beginning to think that this was a bad idea.

"Listen Mr. Redfield," Chris was surprised by the use of the honorific, "I need you to trust me and let me know what is going on," Iscarot insisted. Iscarot was beginning to realize that to get to the bottom of this he was going need to get all of his agents on his side and if that meant disobeying some orders then that was what he would have to do.

Chris had a choice to make. He looked at Sheva and she looked intently back at him. He was starting to believe he would do anything for this woman standing in front of him. She looked at him earnestly, silently making up his mind for him. "Alright Iscarot, but if fuck me over in any way I will make sure you regret it," Chris took a deep breath, "Some company is here, I think they're called PharMa Corporation. They gave me this document saying they own all the sites linked to the Uroboros incident. They are packing everything up; documents, samples, everything. They've essentially kicked us off the site. I told Agents Adou, Stone and Rodriguez to stay put and they are at the site right now making sure nothing else gets taken from the site, but there isn't much else we can do here. I was hoping you could help.

"I'll call you back," was all Iscarot said in reply right before he hung up the phone.

"Shit, I knew I couldn't trust that guy," Chris mumbled under his breath.

"What happened? Do you really think Iscarot will help us; that we can even trust him?" Sheva asked, concern written all over her face.

"I hope so," Chris said not wanting to worry Sheva more than was necessary, "come on, let's get back."

* * *

Iscarot's hand lingered on the phone's handset. Before he had arrived, he had been briefed as to what to expect from this particular mission. It wasn't exactly standard procedure, but he was assured he was getting the briefing because he had been assigned with such short notice. Also, his commander, a man he trusted unconditionally, had been the one to give him the briefing and had been the one to recommend him for the job. During his conversation with his commander he had not been told that PharMa Corporation was going to get involved. To Iscarot, that just seemed like a glaring oversight at best and willful deceit at worst.

He had to admit to himself that he was surprised that he was told that he should keep Agents Redfield, Alomar and Stone at arm's length as they were under suspicion of having worked with the enemy. In particular, he was to get as much information about Agent Alomar as possible. Agents Redfield and Stone, due to their personal relationships with Agent Alomar, could not be relied upon to fully support the mission. Iscarot had not questioned it then; he did not want to rock the boat. He trusted the fact his commander would not steer him wrong. He thought they were all on the same team. He never imagined that his commander would ever work against him.

Iscarot's mind raced. He was on the verge of making a decision that could ruin his career. He was going to directly disobey orders and help Agent Redfield. Iscarot didn't have a family and barely had any friends. Those things all fell to the wayside in favour of his career. And it had paid off. He was the youngest section chief in B.S.A.A. history. He was on the verge of yet another promotion. And it was all because he didn't have any distractions; nothing to get in the way of his work, always available no matter the hour or where he was need. His career was all he had.

But there was something very wrong here and Iscarot had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't being told the whole story. One thing was for certain, he was not going to be made into a scapegoat.

"Ms. Edu, get Mrs. Lemieux on the line," Iscarot said over the phone to his secretary. He needed to call in a favour.

* * *

Chris and Sheva made their way back into the cave. "Everyone stay where you are. Nothing leaves this room until I say so," Chris was taking a chance giving orders to the PharMa Corporation intruders but he didn't have any other cards to play.

"Please Mr. Redfield, don't you know when you've been beaten?" Maximillion said with a grin on his lips.

Chris stifled the urge to punch Maximillion in the mouth just to get that smug grin off his face.

"You have no right to be here. We don't recognize your authority or your claim to this site," Chris had always been good at poker. He hoped his bluff would pay off.

Maximillion slowly walked up to Chris stopping right in front of him. Maximillion's short stature required that he tilt his head up to look Chris in the eye and he said, "well, we out number you about 10 to 1 so I'm not sure what exactly you can do to stop us. And by the time your backup arrives, we'll be long gone."

"You need to get out of my face, NOW," was Chris' stern reply.

Maximillion's cell phone began to ring, but he refused to take his eyes off Chris. He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out his iPhone. "This is Maximillion," he said as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. His eyes remained trained intently on Chris' and his lips remained curled into a cruel grin.

Suddenly, Maximillion's face changed turning from ridiculously pleased to overwhelmingly distress. His brows furrowed and his eyes drifted down and away from Chris in a matter of seconds. Maximillion turned to walk away and began furiously whispering into his phone.

Chris watched him uncertain of what just happened. He called the rest of the team to him.

Agent Adou came up first with Agents Stone, Rodriguez and Alomar not far behind. "What's going on," Agent Adou asked.

"Not sure, but something is definitely happening," Chris said as his eyes searched the cave for any clues. "Listen guys we need to make sure they don't try to gather any more materials and try to take it with them. We need to secure the area as much as we can. Cesc, you need to secure the labs just inside the complex. There are a lot of important files in there; I need you to make sure that they don't get anything downloaded. Josh and Sarafina, you need to take the research area and the surveillance room. Nothing leaves this site, got it?"

"Got it," they all replied in unison.

"Sheva, you stay here with me. We need to keep an eye on our friend Maximillion," Chris said as his eyes landed on the man in question.

The team split up to take their position as Chris had instructed them. Chris took one side of the cave while Sheva took the other side. Everyone waited for PharMa Corporation to make the next move.

Shortly after the rest of the team reported back that they were in position Maximillion began barking orders at his people "Alright, that's it everyone, pack it up. We're out of here in 5 minutes."


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Hey everyone, chapter 12 is here.

Reviews make me happy so review review review. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 12

Black Summers' Night

The last time Chris was in Iscarot's office Chris was certain that he couldn't trust him. Now, Chris wasn't so sure.

It was about eleven at night and he was sitting right in front of Iscarot's desk with Josh and Sarafina sitting on either side of him. Sheva and Cesc were standing in the back somewhere because there weren't enough chairs. Iscarot was just outside of the office talking to his secretary, Ms. Edu. The team sat in silence either because they were too afraid to disrupt the serene quite of the room or too worried that Iscarot might walk in on their conversation. Chris was not sure. After today, Chris wasn't sure of much anymore.

About ten minutes after his phone call with Iscarot, everyone from PharmaCorp was gone. Not even a piece of equipment was left behind. Chris and the team did their best to make sure the PharmaCorp people didn't take anything with them but in the end they were only five people on his team and they were out numbered by at least ten to one. Also, who knows what they may have packed up before they got there? So, Chris didn't know what was there, what was unaccounted for and where the PharmaCorp people had gone. This truly was the definition of a clusterfuck.

Iscarot arrived about an hour later all official like with at least fifty B.S.A.A agents in tow. He quickly surveyed the site and asked for a report. Chris told him about Maximillion and the PharmaCorp team's quick exodus. After about a minute of contemplation, Iscarot had decided to leave all fifty agents behind to guard the site and ordered Chris and his team to come back to the base with him. Chris told Iscarot everything he knew about PharmaCorp and what they were doing at the base.

So there they were. Chris, Sheva, Josh, Sarafina and Cesc. All waiting for their next orders.

Chris could fell Sheva starring at back of his head. It felt like she was trying to bore a whole straight through him so she could find out every last one of his secrets. He couldn't blame her for wondering what he was thinking. Lately he found himself wondering what she was thinking. She seemed off to him like she was slowly drawing away from him. It was almost imperceptible like the movement of the stars across the night sky. To be honest, sometimes he thought it was just his imagination, but then there were times when he could swear he saw it, whatever it was. It was the little things that made him suspect something was going on. She didn't touch him that same way; now her touches felt shallow and cold. She kept her distance from him even now she was on the other side of the room as far away from him as she could get while still being in the room. It had only been a day and already they were in trouble.

This thing between them, he wasn't sure what it was yet, but he knew it was more than this. Hell, she started this thing. It deserved more... he deserved more than to be left wondering.

Chris was jarred from his thoughts by Iscarot who burst into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He stomped the entire way to his desk and sat in his seat like a man who just got news he did not want to hear. He tented his fingers under his chin and swung his swivel chair around so it faced away from the team so he could look out of his office window.

"We can't confirm that anything was taken and we can't confirm anything was not taken. That leaves us with few options," Iscarot said while starring out of the window in front of him. Although, Iscarot had acknowledged their presence in the room, no one felt that Iscarot had been asking for any of them to provide any input.

"This is bullshit," Iscarot said under his breath but still loud enough for everyone to hear. The team looked around at each other unsure of what Iscarot was going to do next. Iscarot spun around in his chair and faced the team. He still looked perfect kempt but there was definitely something a bit unhinged about him.

"Tell me again what they were doing when you got there," Iscarot demanded while he starred straight at Chris.

"They were working. They had HazMat suits and they had clipboards, it was almost like they knew what was there, like they were looking for something in particular," Chris said exasperated, he must have told Iscarot this five times already.

Iscarot's eyebrows twitched slightly. It was obvious that his patience was running thin. Chris could certainly sympathize. Chris felt like he could crack some heads open himself. Maybe he could hit the gym later and work off this horrible day. And it started out so nicely.

"Everyone but Chris needs to leave my office. Now." Everyone looked at each other unsure of what to do next.

Chris spoke up first. He was going to say something that even he could not believe, but for some reason he knew it was the right thing to do. "It's okay everyone, I'll see you after I'm done here."

Everyone filed out quietly except for Sheva. She lingered by the door, her hand on the door handle. Chris could still sense her eyes on him and looked back to give her a reassuring nod. Her hand tightened on the handle before she pulled the door closed behind her.

Iscarot's eyes lingered on the door before turning back to Chris. He looked at Chris with an indiscernible expression before he spoke.

"This doesn't leave this room," Iscarot said in an austere tone, "I already had a preliminary list of the items at the site. The list was provided to me on my way here. The agents we left on site have done a secondary inventory and some key items are missing. We cannot prove that the PharmaCorp people took the items and even if we could they would just deny it,"

Iscarot paused to consider his next words correctly. "We have a mole. I'm telling you this because I think I can trust you. In fact, I think that you are one a very few number of people I can trust."

In any other situation Chris would feel flattered by the vote of confidence. "Are you sure about the mole? How can you possibly know that?" Chris replied completely dumbfounded, although he had to admit it made sense.

"It would explain how PharmaCorp got there before us, how they knew what to look for and that call they got that told them to get out of there before I got there. We are being setup I just don't know by whom."

"And PharmaCorp is behind all of this?" Chris asked; he was still not completely convinced.

"They are known for their shady business practices. Also, I got a tip from an old associate of mine. She works in the United States Justice department; they have been investigating PharmaCorp for over a year now. She said there were rumours that PharmaCorp had nearly been sanctioned for an experimental drug that killed more people than it cured. They had filed the reports on the deaths with the F.D.A but somehow the reports were destroyed before they were formally reviewed. They had someone on the inside. The drug was nearly approved before anyone found out. PharmaCorp pulled the drug to avoid any legal fallout. These are the people were are dealing with."

"Is that it? That was the F.D.A. We're B.S.A.A. We're ex-military. That kind of thing can't happen here," Chris replied skeptically, that was hardly hard evidence.

"My associate said that PharmaCorp had some nefarious business dealings in Africa. They spent an exorbitant amount of money on an off the books project. The Justice department link the business dealings to Wesker. PharmaCorp may have been involved in the production of Uruboros."

"Dear God." Chris gasped.

"My thoughts exactly. Separately maybe it does not mean much but if you add it all up together it starts to make sense. They must have invested millions of dollars in the production of Uruboros. They would go to any lengths reclaim their investment."

"What do they want?"

"I am going to tell you this but you mustn't tell anyone. Satellite pictures have confirmed that PharmaCorp was at the volcano site and that they spent about two hours there. I think it is fair to assume that their stay there had something to do with Wesker's remains. The satellite pictures are not definitive but I think they must have taken Wesker's body out of there."

"That's impossible, Wesker could not have survived that. There is nothing of him left," Chris said definitively, Chris was not willing to entertain any other possibility.

"I never said he survived, I said they took his remains. And God only knows what they plan on doing with them."


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Hey, work has been kicking my butt again.

Thanks to ShevaGiulia for letting me know that people still want to read this story.

Please review, it helps me to know if you guys like it or if you think I am going in a crazy direction.

I do know how it will end and I am probably 10 chapters away from it, so stick in there.

I hope you enjoy.

I do not own Resident Evil; if I did, Sheva would be in the new game. Please don't sue.

**Chapter 13: Fortunate**

Chris sat listening to Iscarot explain his theory in Iscarot's office.

"Agent Redfield, you can understand that I wish to keep this particular theory between you and I. I do not wish for it to reach the wrong people," Iscarot says with his eyebrows raised to emphasis that this is not a request it is a demand.

"Sure," Chris replies curtly.

Iscarot nods and says, "before you go, I would like to discuss the next steps."

Ten minutes later, Chris leaves Iscarot's office, his mind whirling with all the new information he just received. Could Wesker still be alive? Could this PharamCorp really be trying to resurrect Wesker or even continue his work?

He does not know where to go or what to do next. Competing thoughts, worries and problems cloud his mind. His constant concern for Jill is a low hum at the back of his mind, ever-present in his consciousness. Iscarot and his theories are like a dark smoke obscuring his vision. The last three years are like a dream, no a nightmare and he may never be able to wake up from. In the fog of his consciousness Sheva is his lighthouse. Although things had been weird with them of late, he hopes that he can go to her and at least talk to her. Maybe he can get his thoughts in order and figure out what to do next.

He knocks on her door. The curtains are drawn in her bungalow in the middle of Kijuju. She lives on a crowded street with merchants selling their wares along the sides. The steady stream of pedestrians squeeze their way past the merchants, some narrowly missing on coming traffic. Traffic speeds along, horns blare and lights flash in lieu of actual traffic laws and signs. Chris looks at it all amazed that it could be so different from what he is used to back home.

It takes her a while but eventually she comes to see who is at her door. She peeks through her window curtain, concern on her face. The hour is late; maybe it is midnight, Chris can't remember. He does not care what time it is, he wants to talk to her.

She pulls open the door but only wide enough to poke her head through. Chris notices but chooses not to comment.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, holding her light blue robe closed with one hand tightly clinched in front of her.

"I just got out of that meeting with Iscarot, I was hoping…" Chris does not finish his sentence. He shouldn't have to. She should know what he wants.

She looks back into her apartment and turns back toward him. Her mouth opens slightly as if she was about to say something, an excuse to send him away Chris surmises, but closes again. She steps inside and pushes the door open further to allow him entry.

Chris takes the invitation, unspoken though it was, and steps in, closing the door behind him.

Her living room is small, but it is cosy with a rug underneath a coffee table. The coffee table is covered with files and papers sits in front of a beige three seat couch. Chris looks around and sees photos hanging on the walls and on shelves. Mostly the photos are of colleagues and friends; none, Chris notes, are of Sheva as a child with her parents. He turns his attention back to Sheva. She stands with her arms around her body looking at him expectantly.

Chris cannot suppress his chortle. Was this the same woman that came to him last night? Was she the one that demanded that he make up his mind? Then he realizes his mistake. He should have demanded the same from her.

"I just got back from Iscarot. He has an idea for a mission," Chris says hoping the new topic would distract her and himself for the growing rift between them.

"What did he say?" she asks as her body relaxes and she gestures toward her couch. They both sit down next to each other.

"He has a plan, he wants to get it all back. Everything that PharmaCorp stole. He thinks he has a way in," Chris says not sure if he even believes it himself. Iscarot's plan was daring at least and plain old crazy at most and to put the icing on the cake Iscarot tasked Chris with pulling off this insane mission.

"I want you there, I mean if you are ready. I know that you're still dealing with stuff. I wouldn't blame you if you felt…" before Chris could finish, Sheva says, "I'll go." Her eyes are wide and forceful like she is daring him to contradict her. This is the woman remembers from their mission mere days ago.

"Good," Chris says relieved. Suddenly, he is exhausted. He sits back into the couch and covers his eyes with his arm. A long spell of silence fell over them. Chris thinks maybe he could broach the subject of their complicated relationship. It is eating at him that they could be so close and then mere hours further apart than they had ever been.

Then he feels her rest her head on his shoulder. He releases a breath he did not know he is holding and wraps the arm covering his eyes around her shoulders. He takes a liberty he is not sure he should and kisses the top of her head. She smells mostly of lavender scented shampoo and slightly of sweat, a remnant of their mission today. He remembers how lost she looked and he hugs her tightly to him reassuring her that he is here and that he is for her.

"I don't know what is wrong with me. I get scared and I don't know why. I don't know if I can be what you want," she rasps while she clutches at his chest.

"It's okay," he simply whispers.

She looks up at him as if she didn't believe him; her eyes pleading and sad and happy all at the same time. He looks down at her and feels his pulse quicken and a tightening sensation in his stomach. He wants her but he controls himself and chastely kisses her on her lips instead. He holds back, inviting her to take it further, deeper if she wants. She takes his invitation and runs her tongue along his lower lip. He pulls away, he needs to see her face and know that her desire is not all in his imagination. One look at her and he knows it isn't.

* * *

Chris walked down the hallway of the hospital. He had not seen Jill in a day and he felt that a visit was long overdue. He arrives at her room and finds her chatting with a nurse. Jill's eyes light up when she see Chris waiting in the doorway.

"Nurse Nwandi, this ridiculously handsome man is Christopher Redfield, one of my best friends in the whole wide world," Jill says enthusiastically.

"It is very nice to meet, you mister Redfield," Nurse Nwandi says.

"You as well. You have been one of the people responsible for Jill's recovery?"

"Well, I was a small part of it.

"Well, let me take this opportunity to thank you. We're glad to have Jill back," Chris says smiling brightly at Jill.

"You are welcome. I will let you two talk. Excuse me," Nurse Nwandi says and then leaves Chris alone with Jill.

"Where have you been?" Jill asks accusatorially, but the smile on her face tells Chris she is more than happy to see him.

"How are you doing," he asks her with exhaustion permeating his voice. He barely got any sleep last night with Sheva. They made love and talked and made love again. Chris wanted to stay with Sheva, to lie in bed with her until hunger forced them to leave, but he knew that the next mission was coming up and he needed to see Jill before then.

"Much better, the doctor said that I might be leaving here soon. My dopamine levels are back to normal so, yeah, maybe even later this week. Exciting right," Jill says with more energy than Chris had seen in her since he and Sheva wrestled that device off her chest.

"That's great, really Jill, I'm so happy to hear that. You gonna go state side right away or what. Maybe see your folks. I know they're waiting for you,"

"Yeah, I think it would be nice to go home," Jill says contemplatively, but with a glint in her eye asks, "What about you and you know who, you guys straighten everything out."

"Yeah, I mean I think we did, anyway," says confused.

"So when should I expect the invitation to the wedding slash baby shower?" Jill enquires.

"Not anytime soon, I'm sure."

"Things not so good in lover's paradise."

Chris thinks about it and would not exactly say that. "Maybe, but we are getting better."

"That's good, so what are up to, what's next with the mission?"

"Can't tell you too much, section head's orders, but it is about to happen soon," he purposely left out the possibility that Wesker could still be alive. He didn't want to upset her while she was starting to get better.

"You gonna be okay, is it dangerous?" Jill asks worried.

"They're all dangerous," he responds thinking of the previous 2 years.

"I know, but it feels weird not being able to back you up. You do remember the old times don't you," Jill asks.

"I've got Sheva," Chris says and as soon as it is out of him mouth he wishes he could shove it back in again. He knows Jill is not jealous, but he does not want her to fell like he has replaced her in his life. He wants her to know that they are still a team.

Jill stares contemplatively at her hands tracing the lines along her palm with one finger. Tracing the path her life has taken up until this point in time. "Tell her that she better bring you back in one piece," she says never looking up at him.

"Jill…"

"You better get going. I'll see you when you get back," Jill said reassuringly.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N - hey everyone, hope you enjoy. Don't forget to review. Thx to Tomed Ceht for helping me fix this story up.

Chapter 14 - Smile

The day starts out cold and rainy. The clouds hang overhead like thick blankets in the sky, blocking out the sun. In all the days Chris has been in Kijuju, he never seen a day so dark and dreary. The rain leaves large puddles everywhere and the entire city has practically come to a standstill because of it. The day is so dreary that by the time Chris makes his way from Jill's hospital to B.S.A.A headquarters, he wishes he could crawl back into Sheva's bed. Days like these are perfect for forgetting everything but the feel of Sheva's body underneath his and the sound of her throaty moans as he kisses her senseless.

Chris meets up with the team in the conference room at sixteen twenty hours to discuss the mission. They all wear disappointment on their faces because of the failure of the last mission, but Chris knows that the mission had been compromised before they even got there. He knows that a mole had made sure that PharmaCorp got to the site first. But Chris can't tell any of them that; he didn't know who to trust. So he watches everyone sit sullenly, presumably inconsolable and holds his tongue.

Everyone seems disappointed except Cesc who remains inscrutable to Chris. Chris still does not know much about him. Cesc's file was practically bare and Cesc has kept to himself most of the time he had been on the team. All Chris knows is that Cesc is a little too friendly with Sheva and Iscarot recommended him for the team.

Their coffees sit chilling on the large conference table as they wait for the meeting to officially begin. Josh and Sarafina sit talking on the left of Chris and Sheva and Cesc sit quietly to his right. Chris stares at Sheva and eventually she turns to look at him. They share a small smile before she turns to look away. They are waiting for Iscarot to show up and brief them on the mission objectives and then Chris will take over and talk about how the mission will be executed.

Chris looks at his watch for the fifth time that minute. His patience is wearing thinner as time passes. This mission, as Iscarot described it to him, will be one of the hardest his has undertaken and given Chris' mission history that is saying a lot. He hopes he is up to it; he cannot let this go the way the last mission went.

Eventually, Iscarot strolls in the conference room like he isn't twenty minutes late and begins to describe the mission.

"Team. Your mission is as follows," Iscarot says without looking up at the team. He simply walks in and sits at the head of the table reviewing his notes.

"You are to infiltrate the PharmaCorp West Africa headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. This is the most likely location of the stolen materials from the Kijuju site. I also have it on good authority from one of my contacts that this is currently the only location that the materials have been shipped to as it is the only facility that can properly house so much material safely," Iscarot continues, his expression never changing from the cool, indifferent one he always wears.

"Your mission objectives are as follows. You are to locate the stolen materials copy them and then destroy PharmaCorp's originals. I will leave the specifics to Chris. This mission must be done with precision and stealth. I trust you all understand the importance of success," Iscarot says finally looking up at the team. Iscarot looks each of them in the eye individually to drive home his point that there was no other option but success in this mission.

With that, Iscarot gathers his notes and unceremoniously gets up and leaves.

"Well," Chris says with an irritated look on his face, "now that we know what the objectives are we can start to plan how we are going to complete the mission."

Chris presses a few keys on the keyboard sitting in front of him and the room goes dark. A projector powers to life and a detailed map of the facility in Abuja comes up. Chris begins to outline the plan in detail and gives everyone their assignments with a thorough outline of their responsibilities.

"The objective of the mission is to retrieve and or destroy any materials taken from Kijuju." Chris tells the team, but Chris leaves out the secret objective; to find any evidence of Wesker remains.

"Josh, you're piloting the helicopter inbound and outbound. We're going to need you sharp for this just like in Kijuju," Chris says to Josh as he points out the landing area and the time and location of where the team will be picked up. Josh simply nods his understanding and Chris moves on.

"Sarafina and Cesc, I need you guys to check out sub-basement 2C. It is the most likely location of all the Kijuju materials. PharmaCorp will probably keep all the materials together to avoid contamination and that is the only compartment that is big enough to hold everything they took. You guys will collect everything you can and then set charges here, here and here with incendiary explosives. The idea is not to destroy the place just burn everything in the room. Got it?"

Sarafina nods and says, "Got it, my explosive expertise will come in handy for this."

"That's why I picked you," Chris says with a smile, than he looks at Cesc and says to himself, _and I need you to keep an eye out for Cesc_.

"Sheva and I will be retrieving what we can from the main servers. Then our mission is to plant a virus that will seek and destroy any materials related to Kijuju on the server. We will be going to level sixteen through the freight elevators and then repelling down the side of the building."

"Listen everyone this is a big mission. We leave at zero hundred hours. We need to get this right. We are going to get this done." Chris says emphatically, "You're dismissed."

Cesc is the first out the door, a cell phone already pressed to his ear. Chris notes the odd behaviour and although Chris finds it troubling, he cannot say there is anything overtly wrong with it.

"Josh," Chris asks before the older man leaves the room, "what is your impression of Cesc?"

Josh makes a noncommittal face and says, "He is a good agent. I have not known him long but he seems competent."

"Yeah, but he kind of rubs me the wrong way," Chris says as he stares after the man in question.

"He did fine in the cave as I recall. Although there was a time I tried to contact him and he did not answer. But that only lasted about a minute. I would have told you before but it did not seem like a bit problem. It still does not. I mean we cannot all respond right away."

"Right." Chris replies but he still sounds uncertain.

"Would you like me to look into it? I have contacts I can ask favours from," Josh offers.

" Yeah, could you?" Chris asks thinking it couldn't hurt to do some of his own research on Cesc, instead of relying simply on Iscarot's word.

"You got it."

Chris merely nods his response and watches Josh walk towards door with Sarafina in tow.

"See you at zero hundred."

Josh nods and leaves.

Sheva quietly watches Chris as he collects the left over documents and maps from the meeting.

"You ready for this?" Chris asks Sheva, hoping to get her talking to him rather than just staring at him.

"Are you?" Sheva asks back defiantly, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Chris, I know something is going on. Tell me what it is."

"Boy, nothing gets past you," Chris says sarcastically hoping to dissuade her from this line of questioning.

"What is it? Why did you ask Josh to look into Cesc's background," Sheva asks as she walks toward him, her voice lowering to keep anyone else from hearing.

Chris looks at her and marvels at her beauty. Her clear hazel eyes looked like warm shinning pools, her full lips reminding him of the night before. He tries to ignore his desire for her and focus on her words and on the mission. "This is between you and me, okay?"

Sheva smiles and Chris realizes again that he loves it when she smiles at him. Despite himself he grins back at her, happy with himself that he could do that for her. Sheva brings two of her fingers up to her lips and then brings them to hover her left breast and makes a cross over it. Chris grin widens to show his teeth, but his smile quickly sobers as he thinks about what he has to say next. He takes a deep breath before he speaks. "I think we have a mole."

"That would make sense," Sheva says as she absentminded stares at his chest, thinking about what he just said, then she looks up into his eyes, "You think Cesc might be the mole?"

Chris looks away his face as twists into a look at consternation, he can't be sure, but… He turns back to Sheva, "I don't know who else it could be, you have to admit we really don't know much about the guy."

"True, but that doesn't make him guilty. Listen Chris. I know you have a lot going on right now and I know I haven't made your life any easier lately but don't jump to conclusions. Okay?"

"You trust him?" Chris asks not sure if he wanted to hear his answer.

Sheva smiles to herself and says, "He's a bit of a charmer with the hand kissing and all, but definitely not dangerous."

Chris feels himself relax a little. Maybe his suspicion of Cesc was a bit misplaced, but Chris still wants to cover all his bases. He'll continue to investigate Cesc until he has good reason not to. "I'm going to be depending on you to watch my ass during the mission," Chris says cheekily.

Sheva laughs out loud and says, "Anytime," she kisses him on the cheek before she leaves.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Gravity Part I

The bleak darkness of the midnight sky opened up in front of them as they hurdle toward Abuja in a B.S.A.A. helicopter. Chris knows that their general direction is west but left the specifics of the navigation to Josh, the team's pilot. The whirl of the helicopter downs out all other sounds inside the cockpit leaving Chris with only his thoughts of their impending mission.

This may well be one, if the most important, mission he has ever been given. The possibility that PharmaCorp could possibly have something to do with Uruboros and that Wesker could still be alive made this mission incredibly important. This mission could reshape the world. The fate of the world is essentially in their hands, or more to the point the fate of the world was in _his _hands.

Chris looks around the cabin section of the helicopter at his team and watches as they ready their weapons. Sheva sits between him and Cesc and Sarafina sitting across from them. The winds whirl around them whipping up their clothing and hair and simulating the torrent they are about to walk into.

The team left the base at precisely 010 hours. They loaded their equipment, which included small side arms, explosives, and Chris's trusty shotgun in case things got hairy. Though, it shouldn't because the plan is to get in and get out. Sheva sits quietly beside him wearing black fatigues and combat boots. She stares out in front of her blankly as if she was flying through the air at 250 mph all by herself. Chris wonders where she is right now and what could possibly distract her from the mission. As if she could sense his thoughts, she turns her head toward him and gives him a small smile that does not reach her eyes.

"ETA 5 minutes," Josh's voice cut in over their earphones.

"Alright team, mount up. This time we're gonna hit them where it hurts and they're gonna be the one's caught off guard. Got it!" Chris said into his microphone.

They all gave him a nod and started to recheck their weapons.

The moment right before the mission began was always a high for Chris. He was no adrenaline junkie by any means, but the minutes right before he stepped into hell always got his adrenaline pumping, his heart beating a mile a minute and senses running at high efficiency. He would never admit it to anyone, but barring sex these were probably the only times he felt truly alive. As the helicopter slowly made its decent, he felt the familiar rush that accompanied every mission he had ever been on. He took a deep breath. He was ready.

Josh landed the helicopter in a tree-lined field near the PharmaCorp headquarters. Immediately after they land with a soft thud, the team springs into action. As soon as the team is clear Josh lifts off again. Chris signals to the team with two fingers to silently tell the team to fall in behind him. They head toward the seven-foot tall chain linked fence topped with barbed wire that surrounded the PharmaCorp compound. The team pushes through heavy brush and muddy ground. All members of the team move silently toward their target.

As they approach the fence, Chris halts the team to figure out their next move. The facility has parse security with only a few security guards keeping watch. Chris times the team's assault on the fence so that it is during the period of rotation when no security guard can see the fence. Chris thanks whatever deity is listening for low rent security guards.

Chris goes first, surging fast toward the chain link fence, nearly vaulting it in one jump. Chris stops at the top to swing a leg over the other side. He deftly pulls a pair of sharp wire cutters and snaps the barbed wire in two, then jumps down to the other side. Immediately taking position with his gun ready to cover the others as they followed him over the fence. Chris' eyes watch expertly as they sweep across the compound. Chris feels his heightened senses kick in; his ears are keen for any sound of approaching guards; his finger twitches over the trigger of his gun ready to react at a moments notice. Once everyone is over the fence, Chris motions for the team to take cover on the shadowy side of a near by building. They all move silently toward the building, each one taking covering a side with their guns drawn.

With Cesc and Sheva covering their flank and taking a point position respectively, Chris draws up a schematic of the compound. Chris looks around for a landmark to confirm their position. Just as he thought they are, there are forty-five meters away from the insertion point, which was an air vent on the south side of the building. Chris takes a deep breath; this is where the real mission begins. Chris taps each member the team on the shoulder indicating that it was time to move again. Chris taps Sheva on the shoulder last, letting her know that he will be taking point again. Sheva nods her head once and waits to fall in line behind Chris.

They move as one once again heading toward the air vent, all sides covered, each member ready to fire at a moments notice. When they reach the air vent, Sheva kneels beside Chris to help him open the air vent. Cesc and Sarafina stand guard beside them. Sheva hands Chris a mechanical screwdriver and Chris gets to work removing the screws. The whirl of the screwdriver is the only sound they hear until the soft tread of feet start coming from around the corner. Cesc is off before Chris can give the order. Chris watches while Cesc pushes his automatic weapon aside and reaches for his sidearm equipped with a silencer all in one smooth motion. Cesc turns the corner, aims the gun and fires at the approaching guard. The guard drops like a sack of potatoes face first on to the ground. Cesc quickly sheathes his handgun, runs up to the guard and begins to drag the gun into a shaded area so that the guard will remain unseen.

Cesc sprints back to the team and gets back into position. Chris looks expectantly at Cesc wonder what the hell that was. Cesc just looks at him and says, "Don't worry boss, I just tranquilized him."

Chris clinches his teeth in an attempt to stifle his annoyance. He continues his work on the air vent and eventually opens it up. Chris signals to the team with two fingers extended silently telling them to prepare to begin the siege.


	16. Chapter 16

Believe it or not people, but I had to reread my story because I could not remember parts of it. After rereading it I think that I am pretty happy with the journey I am taking you guys on. I hope you are enjoying it too.

I did not check this too well because I wanted to get it up as soon as possible. Sorry for the mistakes

Thanks to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. I love to hear your opinion.

Chapter 16- Drowndeep

The team enters the building through a small ventilation shaft. They crawl one after the other over dust bunnies and the odd rodent. Chris slowly leads the way with a flashlight hoping to make it quietly to second insertion point. Chris holds his fist to indicate to the team that they should stop immediately. They all stop at his command. They are making good time. Chris checks his watch and notes that they are exactly where they are supposed to be and have a couple of seconds to spare. Chris waits patiently for the signal Iscarot told him would come at exactly zero two hundred hours.

All of a sudden everything goes black. The emergency lights kick in after about ten seconds and Chris knows that was the signal. He motions for his team to follow him into the corridor to continue the mission.

Even though the security system is down and there are only emergency lights, the team must remain silent until they reach their objectives. Chris motions with two fingers for Cesc and Sarafina to follow the corridor to the left to head to the sub-basement, while Sheva and he would head to the right to take the freight elevators to level sixteen.

The halls are oddly deserted, but Chris surmises that it must be because of the power failure. Security must have gotten all hands on deck in order to fix it. That left a perfect opportunity for him and his team to infiltrate. Nothing like a little panic to through everyone off their game.

Chris and Sheva make their way through the corridors with Chris on point and Sheva watching their flank. They hug corners and quickly hide to avoid being seen until they make it to the elevator. Chris pushes the elevator call button and waits for the elevator to come down. He quickly glances at Sheva. She is squatting down on one knee. Her gun is trained at the corridor in front of her and her line of sight is clear. If anyone so much a sticks their head out Sheva will take them out as quick as you can say sharpshooter. She is so focused, both arms firm as they hold the semi-automatic rifle to her shoulder, one eye closed the other unblinking as it stares through the site of her rifle. This is the Sheva he remembers from the Kijuju mission. She is firm and strong, a force to be reckoned with. This woman could cover his back anytime.

_Ding_

The elevator arrived. Chris taps Sheva on the shoulder and they both head into the elevator. Chris finally breaks the silence. "You ready for this. It could get ugly up there," he chances not sure how she will respond.

"Whatever is up there, no matter what it is, I need to see it," she says without looking at him. She keeps her forward toward the door in order to steel herself. Whether she is steeling herself against him, the world or the room they were about to walk into, Chris did not know.

"Whatever it is you know that I'm here, right?" Chris says as he stares at the side of her face. She turns to him and smiles, but before she can respond they hear the ding of the elevator indicating they have reached their floor. They turn away from each other and ready their weapons. _I guess we'll have to save that for later_, Chris thinks as they prepare to make their assault on the server room.

The doors open slowly to reveal an empty corridor. Chris is a little surprised at the lack of security, but takes it as a blessing. He moves out of the elevator and down the corridor with his handgun trained in front of him ready to fire at a moments notice. Sheva follows close behind him while she covers their flank.

They move swiftly down the corridor until they reach the door that leads to the database room. The door is made of metal and is only accessible through a passcode lock. Chris kneels in front of the door and pulls up the combination for the look on this PDA. He types in three numbers and the doors slowly begin to open to reveal a server room. Chris readies his weapon again and enters the room with Sheva in tow. The room is extremely cold. As soon as Chris and Sheva walk in they can see their vapour of their breath escape their mouths.

Sheva closes the door behind them by entering the passcode again on the inside of the room. The room is massive with banks and banks of server towers. Chris counts what must be server towers that are 100 wide and 100 deep. That means there are a least 10000 server towers in the room. There is only a small blue light every so often so the room is in a perpetual state of semi darkness. They begin to move to the terminal at the other end of the room.

Chris calls up a passcode from his PDA again and access the terminal with ease. "I don't know where Iscarot got all these passcodes from but they are convenient to have," Chris says to Sheva over his shoulder. Sheva comes to stand beside him to prepare extracting information from the terminal.

"Do you still think we can trust him?" She asks as she begins searching for the information they came for.

"He hasn't given me a reason not to so far," he replies never taking his eyes off his terminal screen.

There is so much information here. Just at a glance Chris can tell that PharmaCorp has 7 active sites in Kijuju alone. PharmaCorp has been collecting samples and research from all of the former TriCell/Umbrella sites even before the Kijuju incident. Chris reaches into one of the utility pockets in his pants and pulls out an external hardrive. He connects it to the terminal and starts to download the contents about the Kijuju incident on to it.

Chris glances at Sheva's terminal and sees that she is looking for information related to lab explosion over 15 years ago. She pulls out USB key and starts to download the information.

"What is…" Chris did not get to finish his sentence as he was interrupted by an alarm going off.

"Shit," was all Chris could say. How the hell are we going to get out of this one.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. Life took me for a loop (it still is taking me for a loop, but I digress).

I have a new chapter. I hope you like it. I tried to take your advice, illyrilex, and cut out all the names. Let me know what you think.

As always, I love reviews so don't be shy.

Chapter 17 – The Root

The alarms are a dull roar in the background. Clearly they are going off in a different section of the building. Although, it was good that the alarms had not gone off in the server room, he knows that the alarm going off is not part of the plan. Something is definitely going wrong outside the server room doors.

"They must have gotten the power back on," he deduces as he looks around the room. The room remains dark, as it was when they first entered. "But, not up here yet. We must be hearing the alarm from another floor."

Sheva seems to be listening to him with only half an ear. Her full attention remains on the files she is downloading from the servers.

"You better make that quick. I'm almost done here and the lights might come back on any minute," he says harshly, his nerves are kicking in and niceties seem to be the last thing on his mind.

"Don't worry about me big guy, I'm almost done too," she says matter-of-factly but keeps her eyes on the terminal.

He smirks at her response. _At least she can keep her cool_, he thinks as he tries to figure out how to change their plans for an escape given these new circumstances.

He reaches for his comm link and tries to get the other members of the team to give him a status update.

"Sarafina, come in, what's your sit. rep.?" he calls and waits for 30 seconds for a response, but he receives no reply.

"Shit, what are they doing down there?" Chris asks to no one at all. He will have to go after them if he does not hear from them soon. That will be tricky with the entire facility on red alert. While Chris is mired in thought a voice comes over the comm. link.

"Chris come in," a male voice calls over the line.

"Cesc?!"

"Yeah, I'm here. I've lost Sarafina about 2 minutes ago. There was an explosion and I was knocked unconscious for a while. When I woke up she was gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Chris asks his eyes trained on Sheva who is looking right back at him.

"I mean gone as in not here any more and I have no idea where she could be," Cesc says his annoyance showing. "We set the charges and we got all the important things we saw. I'm good to go here. Waiting on your word."

"Wait, you sure she isn't somewhere with you in that room?" Chris asks unsure if he should believe Cesc, but then again she was not responding on the comm. Perhaps she couldn't because she was captured.

"I'm positive. I checked twice. Listen, I think I'm going to get company soon. If I don't blow the charges now we may lose our chance."

Chris weighs his options but only see one possible way forward.

"Do it. Do it now."

"Roger. Blowing charges in 10 minutes. See you guys at the heli."

He sees the console blinking indicating that the file transfer is finished. He walks over to the terminal and retrieves the storage device. His senses are on fire. His mind is working in overdrive trying to figure out the best way to get his team home. They could stick with the same extraction plan. Sarafina could have been captured and if so their now 3-person team would not be enough to get her back.

"Chris." Sheva calls his attention with a stunned expression on her face.

"What?" He asks not sure he really wants to know.

"You got to see this. It's Wesker."

"What? What do you mean?" He says charging toward her and her console. His eyes scan the screen looking for what she saw, looking for some evidence that she might be wrong. But, he finds nothing but confirmation that indeed Wesker was in the building. His status was unclear, but he was listed as being a resident in room 16C.

"He's in this facility. It looks like 2 rooms over. I think we walked right past him."

"Shit."

"We have to go. We have to check it out, right?" She asks seemingly uncertain what answer she wanted to hear.

"Yeah. You finished here?" Chris asks suddenly sounding very tired.

"Yeah, I got everything I was looking for." She pats a pocket on her left leg, where she stored her storage device. "I placed the charges too." She said as she handed him the arming device.

"You take point. We have 5 minutes for this and then we are out of here." He said solemnly. This is the last think him needed, but he had to be certain. He thought he killed Wesker before countless times, but his old boss always seemed to come back to haunt him. If he could end this now once and for all he would.

"Sheva," Chris said as she walked in front of him, "if he is in there. If he is still alive, we have to end it. We have to kill him. I know this isn't protocol and that the B.S.A.A would…"

"Chris." Sheva says to stop him. "I know. Whatever it takes, I'm with you."

Suddenly overwhelmed by her simple response, Chris just nods. _She is with me,_ he thinks, _in more ways than one_.

The corridor lights was out due to the alarms going off on the other floors. Just a red emergency light flashes periodically to light the way forward. They go slower because of that and they slowly inch their way toward the room that supposedly held Chris' arch-enemy. Chris hoped it wasn't true. He hoped that there was no way that Wesker could possibly be alive. Not after what he and Sheva did to him. Not after what Wesker did to himself. But, Chris knew that hope only got you so far and knowing what Wesker was capable of he knew that there was always the possibility Wesker may have survived a lava pit, 2 cruise missiles and a deadly mutating virus. So he kept moving forward following Sheva to that door at the end of the hall. Hoping all the way, but knowing to that if Wesker is in that room his world may change forever.

Sheva raises her hand signalling for Chris to stop when they reach the door. She takes a position on the left side of the door and Chris takes a similar position on the right, both take aim at the door. She raises three fingers to indicate that in 3 seconds she will pop the door open.

Chris counts the seconds in his head.

One, his fingers itch and his pulse quickens, but his aim remains steady on the door.

Two, Chris' hope is wavering, but his determination never does. He still wants to end this one way or another. If that means putting a bullet through Wesker's head or another missile then that is exactly what Chris is going to do.

Three, Sheva swings the door open and reveals laboratory. Several large vats of clear liquid bubble and froth in front of them. Both B.S.A.A. agents take in the scene in front of them. This is definitely not what he expected. They both lower their weapons, as there did not seem to be any immediate threat present. They scan the room, but see no sign of Wesker. Chris advances further in the room; he has to make sure that Wesker is dead. Although he has to admit that he is relieved when all he sees is a lab, he knows that it all could be too good to be true.

"Check over there," he commands, pointing to the near corner to the left. She does as he commands and he moves in the other direction toward the opposite end of the room.

Chris takes it all in. The room is large with high ceilings and sterile florescent lighting. Waist high stainless steel tables run along the walls of the room with similar stainless steel stools lined up underneath the tables. It looks like a chemistry teachers dream in there with Bunsen burners and glass vials of various sizes filled with various liquids everywhere. Chris walks past it all and thinks that _there must be some mistake. Why would Wesker be in this room?_

When Chris gets to the other end of the room he looks around, a little bit frustrated with the wild goose chase. He closes his eyes suddenly overwhelmed by the events of the day. What he wants to do most right then is to crawl into bed, hopefully with Sheva tucked under his chin and clutched tightly to his chest, and fall into the deepest, truest sleep he had ever had in his life. He takes a deep breath and slowly opens his eyes.

There is a strange light emanating from the wall. It is faint and is difficult to see under the florescent lights, but it is definitely there. Chris looks along the wall and sees a slight depression in it. He runs his fingers along the depression and pushes on it slightly. All of a sudden the wall begins to move. Chris' instincts kick in and he pulls his weapon out and trains it on the wall. A few seconds later Sheva is at his side doing the same thing. They both remain silent waiting for the hidden door to completely move in order to reveal God only knows what.

The room is filled with vapour and it flows out of the room slowly and billows around the two agents. The lights turned on 1 by 1 and reveal a large tank similar to the ones in the laboratory. A dark shape floats within the tank with what must be wires attached to it. Chris can't make the shape out so he moved closer; his weapon at the ready just in case. Then he hears his partner whimper.

"Oh God…" Sheva whispers, "it can't be."


End file.
